A New Perspective
by rjs83
Summary: After a bad relationship, Bella is convinced she's meant to be alone. Can her friends help rebuild her confidence and make her see she really is worth it?
1. Chapter 1

**A New Perspective **

**A/N – This is my first story, please review and let me know what you think. **

**This chapter is a ground-laying chapter. It's really short, but they will get longer!**

**Short note on the story itself - It is primarily an ExB story, but will also follow EmxR and AxJ. **

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Chapter 1

Emmett

I was talking to Rose on the phone, lounged out on the couch in Bella's office. I was waiting on her final approval on the piece I had written for our magazine.

"_I was thinking we could stay in tonight for date night. I still need to school you on MarioKart."_

"School me, huh? I really wish you would," I flirted back.

_____________________________________________________________________

Rose and I had met a few months ago at a classic car show. She was tall, blonde, gorgeous and draped over a fully restored '67 Camaro. I thought maybe she was one of the girls that the show hired for eye candy. I couldn't decide which was more arousing, the car or the girl. The car with the girl on it was almost more than I could handle.

"_See something you like, big guy?" _Oh god, her voice. It was dripping with sensuality.

"_Oh definitely. Do you know whose car this is? It's beautiful,"_

"That would be me, I'm Rosalie Hale and this gorgeous piece of engineering is Roxy, my baby,"

I was dumbfounded, and very, very close to falling in love with Rosalie Hale.

"_This is yours? Did you restore it too? I've never seen one in this good of condition. Are those original fittings? And the upholstery is spotless" _I was babbling in my shock. Rosalie Hale hadn't moved from her spot leaning against her Roxy, her arms crossed across her chest, a look of amusement playing in her eyes.

"_This is mine. And yes, I did restore her myself. Well, with some help, of course. She was my stress reliever in law school. You should have seen how much work I got done when I was studying for the Bar. The transmission was flawless. The fittings are original, and I know a guy down in Portland that does custom upholstery jobs, so he helped me out with the seats." _She had started lovingly stroking the hood while she talked. God, I was so mesmerized with her mouth. Shit! I hadn't introduced myself! Esme would have my hide.

"_Well Rosalie Hale, lawyer and classic car restorer," _And the most perfect woman alive, I thought. _"I'm Emmett Cullen, car enthusiast, and writer for Seattle Sundry magazine. It's a pleasure to meet you and Roxy," _I stepped forward and extended my hand to Rosalie, flashing her my patented grin and dimples.

"_Likewise, Emmett Cullen," _She smirked, shaking my hand. I could have sworn there was a jolt of electricity that ran through our hands when they touched.

Needless to say I didn't see the rest of the show.

I glanced up and Bella was pretending she was gagging listening to all the flirting between Rose and me.

"Hey Em tell Rose Alice and I are having a girls night tomorrow. If she's not busy, she should join us. It's the usual, you know, movies, body shots, naked pillow fights."

My ears perked up. Naked pillow fights? I knew she was joking, but that was really hot.

"Tell Bella I'll be there." Rose must have heard her.

I relayed the message to Bella and quickly said my goodbye. There was only so much flirting I could put Bells through before she started throwing office supplies at me. She was a feisty one, but I loved her. We'd been friends since we were undergrads at UW and now we got the pleasure of working together. Bella recruited me when she decided to start up her magazine, and in a short time, _Sundry_ had become a hit with the 20-35 age group in Seattle. We were hoping to expand to the Portland area within a year.

She really was a good-looking chick, if you went for brunettes. We got a lot of crap when we first started hanging out because people thought we were together. It was really bad when her POS truck finally died and I had to give her rides to campus. It made sense since we had the same schedule, but man we did we get flack for that. Honestly, though, I thought of Bells as a little sister. We never had any sort of romantic feelings for each other.

I was glad Rose was so cool with our relationship. I hated jealous chicks. Of course, Rose had no reason to be jealous of any other woman and she knew it. She could walk into a room and command the attention of any guy there without saying a word. It was damn sexy, because she was mine and she knew it. She had no interest in any other men.

I felt bad for Bells, though. She was a great girl, but she kept getting screwed over by the guys she got involved with. The last one was a total dickhead and I unapologetically broke his nose after I got a call from Alice saying they were in the ER because Bella had a broken arm. Apparently he was drunk and threw her out of his car when she refused to let him drive. That was the last straw in their relationship, but he seriously screwed with her self-esteem while they were together.

Alice and I both knew he was no good, but she insisted he was a good guy, so we let it go after a while. Alice was more pissed than I was the night he broke her arm, and let me tell ya, the wrath of that pixie is frightening. It took all my strength to keep her from killing him, or castrating him at the very least. She was somewhat placated when she found out I had already broken his nose.

Ever since then, though, Bells came out with some of the things he said to her while they were together and it kind of made me wish I had let Alice get to him. How any man could look at her and tell her she wasn't sexy was beyond me. Sure, she had an understated sex appeal, but it was still there. I was like her brother and I could still see it. The dude was a total loser and apparently blind to boot.

"Did I tell you that Edward is moving to Seattle? He's doing his residency here,"

"Ah yes, the prodigal brother. We've been friends for what, eight years now? And I have yet to meet the elusive Edward. When is he due?"

"Next week. Esme is going nuts trying to get his apartment in order before he gets here. She's beside herself, finally having both of her sons back in Seattle,"

I was excited to have my brother back, too, but I wasn't about to admit it and risk looking like a pansy. I had an image to uphold. Not that that meant squat with Bella. She was almost too perceptive for her own good.

"I'm sure Esme's in her element. After seeing what she did with your place and that gorgeous house you got to grow up in, I have no doubt she'll work the same magic with his place. Where was he before? I don't remember,"

"Chicago. He did med school and his internship there, but I think he missed it here,"

"I think you missed having him here,"

Damn, she really was too perceptive.

"Eh, you know. He's my brother, of course I missed him. Aren't you supposed to meet Alice soon? Some weird roomy bonding thing?"

"Crap, you're right. I better get a move on it. She'll have my hide if I'm late. The piece looks good; I'll email you my suggestions first thing in the morning. Bye Em!" She got up and kissed my cheek before ushering us out of her office.

"Careful Bells! We don't want another trip to the ER!" I called after her.

"I'm thinking of a finger!" She replied over her shoulder.

Cheeky girl. She was also clumsy, but at least she was entertaining to be around. Always good for a laugh whenever she'd trip on a nonexistent bump in the floor. Maybe it was a good thing Edward was coming back. I had every intention of introducing him to our little group of friends, and it'd be good to have a doctor on hand to keep an eye on Bella.

I only had an hour before Rose was set to show up at my place, so I decided to work on my other pieces tomorrow if I had time. God, I loved the honeymoon phase of the relationship. Somehow I thought with Rose we might never actually leave that phase, which was fine by me. That woman was literally perfect in every way.

I packed up my stuff and locked the office. My mind wandered back to my brother. Maybe I'd try to set him up with one of the girls. They were both single, and I'm pretty sure Edward could handle getting laid. My mind swirled with possibilities. This was going to be fun.


	2. Chapter 2

**Another short-ish chapter, but they're getting longer. **

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Chapter 2 – Nachos, Skee-Ball and Girl Talk

APOV

I was bouncing in anticipation for Bella to get home. Not only was I excited about the evening I planned, but I couldn't wait to see Bella in the new outfit I put out for her. That girl looked GORGEOUS in any sort of deep, rich colors, and royal purple was my second favorite on her, only eclipsed by midnight blue. Her skin tone was so creamy it was like she was made to wear dark colors. I just wish she'd let me get my hands on the rest of her wardrobe. She needs to be broken of her flip-flop habit. She'd made great strides since we met, but she still needed a little work.

I heard her car pull into our driveway and I calmed a little bit.

"I know I'm late! I'm sorry! I lost track of time editing and then Emmett was talking to Rose – she's coming tomorrow by the way – and please forgive me! I'll be ready in a jiff!" She called, making her way to her "wing" of the house as quickly as possible.

One of the things I loved about our house, aside from the fact that I got to use my design skills to decorate the place, was the layout. There were two hallways that went off the main living area. We each had a wing to ourselves.

When she re-emerged a few minutes later, I instantly knew I was right. The purple was an excellent choice. She looked amazing; I just wished she would see it. Ever since James she had a serious self-esteem problem. It made me wish Emmett hadn't restrained me that night.

"Do I pass inspection, mi lady?" She grinned at me turning in a circle.

"You look perfect. I knew that shirt would be perfect for you," I replied

"It is nice. That's what they pay you the big bucks for. Now let's go. I'm starving and you know how I get if I don't eat".

We drove to the restaurant talking amiably about our days. It was so nice to have some Alice and Bella time. I'd been so busy at work, getting every thing ready for the summer lines to come in, and Bella was in overdrive trying to wrap her latest issue of _Sundry_. I loved this time of the season, but I also missed my best friend.

"Please, please, please, can we get the nachos as an appetizer? I don't know what goes better with roommate bonding time than nachos," Bella pleaded.

"Pssh, I know you're just trying to weight the odds in your favor when we face off in Skee Ball later. You know how oily their chips are. It'll be hard to keep hold of the balls," I teased. We hardly ever came here when we didn't get nachos. It was tradition.

"Like I need a reason to weight the odds. I'm on fire. My winning streak will continue uninterrupted," Bella played back. We both knew it didn't matter who won when we played, but the pre-game trash talk was all part of the fun.

"How long do you think it'll be until Emmett asks Rose to move in with him?" I asked while we ate our food.

"Oh, I don't know. They spend every night together as it is, but you know Em, he's got a façade to maintain. We'll see how things go when Rose's lease expires." Bella replied, playing with her straw.

"I think they're going to surprise us. I know Emmett tries to be a big, tough guy, but I have a feeling that's going to crack soon. Especially since Rose has him wrapped around her pinky. Just wait, I think they'll be living together by the end of the summer," I'd had a feeling about them for a while and it was only getting stronger.

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, his brother is moving back to Seattle next week. He got a residency here. By the way Em was talking, Esme's thrilled to have them both back here."

"I bet she is," Esme was Bella's and my surrogate mother, since mine had passed away and Bella's lived in Florida with her step dad. "What about Em? How does he feel about the whole thing?"

"He's excited, but he's trying to hide it. I think he's going to try to introduce him to us, so he knows some people in the area"

"What do you think he's like? You've never met him have you?"

"I haven't met him, but knowing Em and his parents he can't be too bad a guy. Unless he's the black sheep of the family, but judging from the stories Em has told me, that's not the case. From the way he talks, Edward doesn't get out much, since he works so much. He also kind of idolizes his older brother."

"Oh! I just had the greatest idea! We should have a game night in a couple weeks. You could work your magic in the kitchen and we could all get acquainted with dear Edward,"

I had ulterior motives for this plan, of course. Edward and Bella were going to hit it off beautifully, but I didn't feel like telling her that just yet. She was much more comfortable when she was oblivious to the male species. It also had the bonus of adding to her appeal to guys.

"That's a good idea. We'll be done with this issue by then. It'll be nice to unwind. I'll talk to Emmett next week. Any requests on the menu?"

"Those brownies with the peanut butter topping, naturally. But I'll have to get back with you on the rest. I'm sure Em'll have some requests, too." My mouth was already watering over the Sex on a Brownie dessert Bella makes.

"Alright, you ready to get your ass kicked in Skee Ball?" Bella stood up holding her hand out to me.

"Bring it. You're going down, Swan." I replied, trying to sound tough. Bella just laughed while we made our way to get tokens for the Skee Ball machines.

We hardly kept score while we played. After a few rounds, we collected our tickets, paid our bill and made our way back to my car. Bella stopped a little girl on our way out and gave her our tickets. The little girl looked like she just won the lottery.

"You know, I have a feeling things are going to change soon," I told her on the way home.

"Oh yeah? Another one of Alice Brandon's famous premonitions?" Bella asked skeptically. That girl should know by now that you never bet against me. And I did know things were going to change. I didn't quite have all the specifics, but I knew more than anything that it all seemed to be linked to Emmett's brother. Edward was going to breathe new life into our little group.

***

"Belllllllla! Can you get the door? Rose is here!" I called from the kitchen, where I was very absorbed in blending up the perfect margaritas for our girl's night.

"Got it!" Bella jumped up and ran to answer the door, a few seconds later I heard the two making their way to the kitchen.

"Fondue? You girls spoil me!" Rose cooed when she noticed the spread Bella and I had put together.

"Well, what's a girls night without chocolate and tequila? Speaking of which Alice's World Famous Super Spectacular Margaritas are ready!" I proclaimed triumphantly. Bella may be our resident chef, but I could hold my own when it came to the bartending.

"I don't think you used enough adjectives there, Alice," Bella teased playfully.

"You know you love it. Now, come on! There is bonding to be done!" I grabbed the pitcher and some glass while Bella and Rose took care of the food.

We settled ourselves and popped in a movie and set about the purpose of the night: drinking, chocolate and girl talk.

"So, Rose, how are things with Em?" I asked, dunking a strawberry in the fondue.

Rose flushed. "They're really good. He continues to surprise me. I've been dropping hints about moving in together since my lease expires soon, but he's completely oblivious. He'll figure out soon enough that he can't live without me, though."

"See, I told you Bella! We were just talking about that last night. I have a feeling it's going to be soon."

"Yes, and we'd all be insane to bet against Alice, right?" Bella rolled her eyes at me.

"Damn skippy you would be!" I knew she was being flippant, but I felt the need to defend myself.

"What about you, Alice? Any prospects?" Rose asked before taking a sip of her Super Spectacular Margarita.

"Hmmm, not right now, but soon. Really soon, I think," I replied. My soul mate was getting closer and closer every day. I didn't know the specifics, but I knew he would be tall and blonde. People always wondered why I never got bent out of shape about my past relationships not making it. They were really just stopgaps until my MG (Mystery Guy) made his appearance. Almost like dress rehearsals for the real thing.

"I wish I could have your confidence, Al," Bella replied, almost sadly.

"Whatever Bella. You're just looking at the wrong guys. And he'll…"

"He'll show up when I least expect it, yeah. Everybody says that. Well, everybody except you, Al. Nothing ever takes you by surprise."

"Well, I most certainly didn't expect Em. I went to that car show expecting to be ogled by the drunken assholes that usually show up at those things, not be swept off my feet." Rose interjected.

Bella and I looked at each other and made mimed gagging. Rose hurled a throw pillow at us and we all broke down laughing.

"I do have to give you props. These are indeed some Super Fantastic Margaritas." Rose said once she caught her breath. "I'm already pretty buzzed. Emmett is going to be happy when I get home tonight."

"Oh is he now?" I asked, wagging my eyebrows at her suggestively.

"Definitely. Not that we need any help, but the alcohol really helps speed things along. I swear, I've never had this much sex in my life. We just can't get enough of each other,"

"Yeah, I know. I have to work with him. Some days he just won't shut up about it. Some days I feel like I'm the one dating you," Bella teased, but her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. She looked sad for some reason.

"Hey, we have to live vicariously through her for the time being. It's not like either one of us are getting any" I said, trying to lighten the mood.

"And it sounds like they're getting it on enough for all three of us."

"Hey, I can't help it we have a healthy sexual appetite, can I? Not all of us can endure long stretches of self-imposed celibacy, Bella."

"It's not exactly self-imposed. I'm just tired of meaningless sex. And anyway, it's not like I have guys lining up at the door to take me out."

Poor, clueless, blind Bella. She never sees herself clearly. I saw at least three guys at the restaurant last night checking her out, but she was so oblivious she had no idea.

"That's all going to change soon, like I said last night. Just you wait." I announced prophetically, tapping my temple.

We fell into another fit of giggles and spent the rest of the night in amiable conversation.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN – So, yeah. Here's another chapter. I really like this one. We finally meet our two missing characters and this is about the end of the ground-laying chapters. Stuff is starting to happen! Hurray!**

**Standard disclaimer applies. **

Chapter 3

EmPov

"Shit shit shit shit shit. Ow."

Bella was hopping around on her right leg, holding on to her left ankle.

"Bells, please calm down. Let's get you over to the sofa and I'll see if we need to go get you checked out." I lifted Bella, and started carrying her down the hallway to her office.

"What, you have medical training by association, now? Your brother's a doctor so now you know what you're doing?"

"No, but I have been friends with you for the better part of a decade. I've gotten pretty good at determining the degree of your injuries." I gently put her down, took off her flip-flop and rolled up her pant leg. She had a purple bruise blooming on her ankle, and it was swelling up by the second.

"Yep, just as I suspected. I think it's Tuberculosis," I teased her, feigning my most professional doctor-voice. "You'll be fine. Just drink a lot of OJ."

"Very funny, jackass. Am I going to have to go to the hospital?"

" 'Fraid so, kid. Only you could sprain your ankle walking down a flat hallway."

"I still maintain that hallway is bumpy. You just don't notice it because you have such big feet." She pouted.

"Bells, that doesn't make any sense. Now, come on, let's get you checked out. It's a good thing this issue is almost done. At least you're not missing much." I picked her back up and carried her out to my car.

We got to the hospital and I grabbed a wheelchair and parked Bella in front of the registration desk. The lady greeted her by name and pulled her file up without any prompting from Bella.

"Now dear, what is it today?" She asked kindly, but I could see a sparkle of amusement in her eyes. I could hardly stifle my laugh and stepped away so she could have her privacy. I didn't need to hear about Bella's period or any of that sort of woman stuff. While I was waiting I decided I should probably call Alice and let her know what happened. It was an unspoken promise between the two of us that we would always both be with Bella at the ER, no matter what the reason was we were there.

After the all the registration information was taken care of, Bella motioned me over to take her to the waiting area.

"Alice is already on her way. I swear, it was almost like she was waiting for me to call,"

"She's freaky like that, isn't she?" Bella sighed impatiently. "I swear, after all the times I've been here, I should have VIP status or something. Why do I have to wait with all the common folk?" She leaned back in her wheelchair with an air of mock-regality.

"They know not to call you back without Al, silly."

Right on cue, Alice pranced into the waiting area with an exasperated look on her face.

"Honestly, Bella. What am I going to do with you? It's a good thing our house doesn't have stairs, because it looks like you'll be on crutches for a couple of weeks."

"Isabella?" A nurse had come out of the doors to the exam rooms. Alice wheeled Bella toward the waiting nurse.

"I'll be here when you're done," I called after them; picking up a three-week's old copy of People Magazine. Really, why can't these places keep their supply better stocked?

"I bet the crossword is already finished, too," I muttered to myself.

"What else are the doctors supposed to do when we don't have any patients?" A voice above me asked, with a hint of humor in it. I looked up to see my brother standing against a wall, with a tall blonde guy next to him.

"Eddie! I didn't know you were here today." I got up to shake his hand and do the 'dude hug'. I saw him cringe at the use of my old nickname for him.

"Yep, Jasper is just showing me around. I start my full-blown schedule tomorrow. Why are you here? Trying to hit on the nurses again?" He teased.

"Nah, I'm a one-woman man these days. B got hurt again, so I had to escort her to the hospital," I turned my attention to the guy Edward had introduced as Jasper. "I'm Edward's younger brother," I introduced, cocking my thumb in Edward's direction.

"Jasper Hale. I'm a doctor up in Psych…" He trailed off; probably thrown off by the weird look I was giving him.

"Hale? Are you any relation to Rosalie Hale? The lawyer?"

"She's my sister. Why? Do you know her?"

_More than you want to know, dude. _I thought.

"Yeah, uh, we're kind of dating."

"You're Emmett? Holy crap. I was just telling her she had to introduce us some day. It's good to finally meet you."

We shook hands just as Alice came dancing toward us.

"They're taking her in for an x-ray, but they're pretty sure it's just a sprain. I swear that girl could hurt herself sitting still in a padded room." Alice noticed the people I was talking to and her eyes went wide for a brief moment. She directed her attention to Edward first.

"You're Edward, aren't you? When were you planning on coming around to introduce yourself? You've been in town for a week almost!"

"And you must be Alice. It's a pleasure to meet you," Edward shook Alice's hand. "This is Jasper Hale, he's an old friend from college, and the one that gets the pleasure of showing me around this place. And apparently he's Emmett's girlfriend's brother."

Alice looked angry for a moment, then completely at peace. She looked directly at Jasper.

"You kept me waiting a long time." She smiled at him.

Jasper ducked his head. "I'm sorry ma'am."

Edward and I looked at each other completely bemused. What the hell just happened? Did they know each other?

"Ummm, I'm sorry, did I miss something? Do you two know each other?" Edward asked, breaking Alice and Jasper out of their trance.

"No," They both replied, smiling.

"Would you like to go get a coffee?" Jasper asked Alice.

"I'd love to. Em, will you let me know when she's done?" Alice asked, not even waiting for a response before linking her arm in Jasper's and floating away.

"It looks like my escort will be otherwise engaged for a few minutes. Care for some company while you wait on your friend?" Edward asked, walking toward the hard plastic chairs in the waiting area.

"Sure, dude. Whatever." I replied sitting next to him, stretching my legs out. "So, Alice and Bella are having a game night/dinner party type thing next weekend, and I'm supposed to ask you to come. You up for it?"

"Sure, it'll be nice to know some people around here outside of you and Jasper."

"Dude, you won't regret it. Bella's making the food, and she's an amazing cook. Even if she can't walk on her own after today. I'll let you know when we have more of the details ironed out."

"Sounds good," Edward replied, right as his pager went off. "I'm not even technically on duty yet, and I'm already getting paged. I'll call you when I get off, cool?"

"Yeah, sounds good." I told him as he got up and walked away.

A few minutes later, Bella made her way back to the waiting area with a brace on her foot, but miraculously she wasn't on crutches. The nurse handed her the sheet of paper with her care instructions and smiled.

"One more and you'll have a free visit, Bella" She teased.

"Thank you, Rachel." Bella laughed and then turned to me. "Where's Alice? I was surprised she wasn't waiting for me when I got out of x-ray."

"Apparently she found her MG and they're off who knows where drinking coffee. I suppose I should call her and let her know you're out. You ready to blow this joint?" I asked, pulling my phone out of my pocket.

"More than you know. Let's go."

I called Alice to let her know that I was taking Bella home.

"Who was the guy she met?" Bella asked once she climbed up into my Jeep.

"You'll never believe this, but it's Rose's brother, who also happens to be one of Edward's friends from college and now a co-worker."

"It's almost like it was meant to be." She joked. "She did say the other night she was going to meet her MG very soon. She's usually right, isn't she?"

"Very usually. Did you know she foresaw Rose? She was the one that encouraged me to go to that car show. I wonder when she'll see your future happiness." I teased Bella.

"She seems to think she already has, but this is one circumstance that I won't be betting on Alice. I'm pretty sure I'm the exception for her rule."

Bella had recently decided that she was never going to find a guy. I personally thought her reasoning was bullshit, but Bella's stubborn when she sets her mind on something. I gave up trying to argue with her. I just hoped she'd accept it when someone who was worth her while came around and not get in her own way to happiness.

"Uh huh. When were you and Al planning on having your shin-dig? I told Edward I'd let him know so he can come."

"We're thinking on Saturday of next week, that way Alice has more time to 'prep' as she calls it. What she plans on doing that needs a whole day to set up for, I have no idea. Wait… when did you talk to your brother?"

"I ran into him in the waiting room. That's how we met Jasper. He was getting the grand tour of the hospital when Jasper deserted him to go off with Alice. You think you can drive with that brace on?"

"I should be able, luckily it's my left foot and I got rid of the stick-shift when the Rust Monster died. You can just drop me off at the parking lot and I'll go home from there. No need to follow me." Bella added a little too aloofly.

"Yeah, Al would have my hide if I didn't personally see to it that you made it home in one piece. Plus, I know you too well, missy. You have no intention of just going home." I knew Bella a little too well to think that she'd that she'd just go straight home. She was a work-a-holic and totally dedicated to her magazine.

"Fine, pull up next to my car and follow me home. I think I should probably get my painkillers filled. My ankle is killing me."

We dropped Bella's car off and headed to the drugstore to fill her prescription. Bella was funny on painkillers. This would be a fun night. Hopefully Alice wouldn't decide to bring her new beau home to meet the roommate while said roommate was doped out. It probably wouldn't make the best first impression.

"Shit, I should probably call Rose and let her know I'll be home late tonight. Do you think I can stay out of trouble while I go do that?"

"Funny, Em. I don't know how much trouble I can get into in a drugstore waiting room." She stuck her tongue out at me while I made my way outside to tell Rose what was up.

Naturally, Rose wanted to make sure Bella was okay, and promised to come by the house in an hour to help keep an eye on Bella. That woman was a saint, really. Not only had she actually fallen for an oaf like me, she embraced my friends as well. I told Rose I'd see her later and made my way back to where Bella was waiting.

As I walked back to the pharmacy, I knew something was up right away. Bella was facing someone I couldn't see, but her expression was hard and she looked pained. It wasn't until I saw her unconsciously run her hand along the scar on her arm that I knew who she was talking to. Only dickhead James caused that sort of reaction in her.

Sure enough, once I finally got near enough to see him, his greasy blonde hair gave him away. He was standing leering over Bella. I was within earshot now and could hear what he was saying to her.

"Come on baby, you know you won't be able to do better than me. We both know you weren't thinking clearly when you broke things off. You just let yourself get taken in by those friends of yours. They don't know you like I do, and they can't love you like I can."

I walked up behind Bella and put my arm around her waist. I took a deep breath to calm myself, mostly to keep from making a scene at the pharmacy counter. I wanted nothing better than to beat this guy to a pulp after hearing him talk to Bella like that.

"I think it's time for you to leave. And, James? I swear, if I ever see you around Bella again, I'll personally castrate you and shove your balls so far down your throat that it'll take a doctor to remove them."

James huffed and turned around, stalking his way quickly out of the store. Bella turned in my arms and gripped the back of my shirt tightly. I heard a muffled sob come from her.

"Hey, babe. None of that. He's gone. You know Al and I will always be here for you. You don't believe a word he says. You are worth so much more than that scumbag."

"I know, I know. But it's so hard not to believe him. The harder things are so much easier to believe."

"I swear to god, Bells. Someday someone will come around and change your whole perspective on life. Now, no more tears. You know I don't know how to deal with girls who cry."

Bella laughed and wiped her face with her sleeve. Her name was called, and we made our way to her house shortly after. We had to make a short pit stop to get Bella a fountain drink, because apparently you can't take painkillers without a fountain drink. I just shrugged and did as she asked. I got myself a bag of Cheetos and some beef jerky. I knew Al had some popcorn at the house, so we'd be all set for the Drugged-Out Bella Show when she got home.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN – So, I have one reader I think. Her name is ameliastarwish, and she put me on alert a while ago. Despite my small following I'm going to keep posting my little story. I know the posting is sporadic at best, but I'm still working on it.**

**Of course the usual disclaimer still applies. The characters, etc belong to SM.**

Chapter 4

Alice

"Are you ready for the Bella Show?" Emmett asked me as I walked in the door.

"Of course, I love Bella on painkillers. Thanks for texting me, by the way. I don't really think this would be the best first impression for Jasper to have on my best friend."

"No problem, squirt. I was thinking the same thing."

"AAAAAAAAALLLLLLLIIIIIICCCCCEEEE!" I heard Bella's screech from the living room.

"How long ago did she take the pills?" I asked Emmett while making my way to our living room.

"About a couple hours ago. Man, she's been funny."

I made my way to the couch where Bella was stretched out, her left leg elevated on a couple pillows. She was currently talking to Rose who was trying to keep a straight face.

"Hey babe, how's the ankle?"

"It's just dandy, thankyouverymuch. I should sprain my ankle more often, I took a whole day off work!"

"Sure thing, hon. Keep that in mind the next time you start feeling worn down." Rose patted her hand.

"Oh, don't think I won't. This is fantastic. Emmett and I watched Sponge Bob Square Pants for two whole hours! Ooooooh, who lives in a pineapple under the sea?" Bella looked between Rose and me expectantly.

"Sponge Bob Square Pants!" I exclaimed, knowing she wouldn't stop until we played along.

"Absorbent and yellow and porous is he!"

Rose replied this time with an enthusiastic "SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS!"

"If nautical nonsense be something you wish, then drrrop on the deck and flop like a fish!" Bella broke down in a fit of giggles.

While Bella attempted to collect herself, I gave Rose a hug.

"Thanks for coming by. It'll be nice to have some sane company."

"No problem, my meetings let out early today, and I hear the Bella Show is one not to miss."

Bella passed out shortly after her impromptu serenade and Em, Rose and I decided to order in dinner.

"Did you tell her who we ran into today?" I looked at Em, hoping he didn't spoil my big news.

"Nope, I'm leaving that all up to you kid." Emmett replied, taking a big bite of his Lo-Mein.

"Who'd you meet, Al?" Rose looked at me with an air of genuine curiosity.

"Well, when Bella was getting her X-Ray I went to update Emmett on her progress, and met Edward." I paused my story, hoping to give it more dramatic effect.

"Ooookay?" Rose looked confused.

"Edward was being escorted around the hospital by one of his college buddies. Jasper Hale." I finished my sentence bouncing slightly.

"You finally met my brother? You were nice to him, weren't you Em? Please say you were nice, I really want you guys to get along." Rose pleaded looking at Emmett.

"Oh, I was nothing but civil, but then again we didn't really have much time to chat." He smirked.

"I don't follow."

"Well, you see, apparently your brother is Alice's MG. After she introduced herself to Edward they took off to get coffee. Taking by the amount of time they were gone, things must have gone well." Emmett looked at me for confirmation.

"Oh, it went really well. You were holding out on me Rose. Why didn't you tell me your brother was my MG?" I looked at Rose sternly.

"I'm sorry Alice, there are a lot of tall, handsome, blonde guys out there. How was I supposed to know my brother was your MG?"

"Soooooo…." I began, looking at Rose, expectantly.

"Sooooo, what Al?"

"Tell me about him!" Seriously, what else could I have been after?

"Well, I assume you know all the basics – we're twins, our dad was in the military, yadda yadda yadda. I'm not sure what you want to know, to be honest."

"Why is it that he has a drawl and you don't?"

Rose laughed. "You see, we lived in Texas for about 8 years when we were young. I think it was the longest we ever stayed in one placed before we moved up here. Jazz picked it up and I fought against it – it wasn't lady like to have a twang, after all. He mostly lost it when we moved, but he went to UT for graduate school and picked it up again."

I sighed- I loved his drawl. From our time together this afternoon, I also noticed he opened doors and held out chairs and all the other things that a proper Southern Gentleman would do.

"What was he like as a kid?" I could just picture two little blonde kids running around a yard playing tag.

"He was a good kid. Quiet until you got to know him. Jazz has this amazing ability to be able to tell how someone is feeling. At first I thought it was just the "twin thing" that people say occurs, but he's like that with everybody. I think that's what makes him a good therapist. He puts people at ease."

"And what was Rose like as a child?" Emmett turned to her with a cheeky grin on his face.

"I was, and still am the Yin to Jazz's Yang. I was always the more outgoing one. While he was content to sit and read a book, I was out in the garage with our dad helping him work on our car. Dad called me his little firecracker."

"Are you close?" I asked.

"To my family? Yes. When you're in the military, your only constant is your family. Both of our parents brought us up to respect each other, and treat each other as such. I think our dad was a little sad that Jasper didn't want to carry on the line and enlist, but he said that he was much more interested in past wars than current and future ones. He minored in history, you know. He was always fascinated by the Civil War."

I nodded, remembering our conversation over coffee. Jasper's eyes lit up when he talked about his minor. He said that while he loved it, he didn't want to taint it by making his career about it. I had to admire that.

I was brought back from my musings when Emmett pushed out from the table saying something about checking on the invalid.

He popped his head into the dining room. "She's passed out cold, I'm going to take her to her bedroom."

"Good idea. I'll help her into some other clothes when she wakes up." I turned to look at Rose who had a funny expression on her face.

"Be good to him, Al. He deserves to be happy."

"There's something special about him, Rose. I knew when I met my MG it would be good, but this is just… I don't know. Spectacular? It's like he compliments me so well. He's so calm and pragmatic. I think he'll balanced out my craziness."

"And hopefully you'll get him to loosen up a little bit. I love the kid, but he's always a little too serious for his own good" She winked at me.

Emmett came back in the room talking on his phone. It sounded like he was confirming our plans for next Saturday with Edward.

"I forgot to tell you, Al. Bella and I ran into James at the pharmacy."

Well hell. That brought me out of my Jasper bubble. I groaned.

"And how did that go? Please tell me you put him in the hospital."

"No, I figured it would be too much trouble, you know having to talk to the police after the punk filed a police report from his death bed. Get this, though. He blamed us for his and Bella's break up, and told her that she would never find anybody better than him."

I seethed. Who the hell did he think he was? He had the sentiment all wrong. HE would never be able to find someone better than HER. The fucking king of England wouldn't be good enough for Bella.

"Lemme go find him, please. I'll make sure I'm nice and discreet when I rip out his throat. Please, Em?"

"Sorry kid. Someone needs to stay with Bells. Rose and I are going to bail on ya. Big Papa needs some one-on-one time with his girl." Emmett joked, instantly lightening the mood.

"Big Papa, huh?" Rose arched an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, it's something I'm trying out. What do you think?"

"I think someone is awfully sure of himself." I teased. We all knew that he had every right to call himself that. One drunken summer night we three decided it would be a good idea to go skinny-dipping in a lake nearby. Rose was a very lucky lady.

"You know it." He replied with a toothy grin.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on Big Papa. Let's get you home." Rose stood and gave me a quick hug.

"I love it when you call me Big Pap-pa. Throw your hands in the air if you're a true player!" Emmett followed Rose to the door.

"See ya, Biggie, Rose." I laughed and closed the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N – I tripled my readership with the last chapter! Thanks to manutd10**

**And pandora09 for adding me! This is the longest chapter yet, and I'm really excited about it. **

**With no further ado, I present you with Chapter 5 of ANP!**

Chapter 5

Edward

I wasn't sure what expect from this dinner party Emmett was taking me to. He said it was a casual game night/dinner party type thing. I had a weird feeling that it was a set up, but Emmett usually wasn't the type to meddle. Anyway, I'd already met most of the people that would be there with the exception of Bella.

Ahh, the elusive Bella. I'd seen pictures of her before, but in all the years that she and Emmett had been friends we had yet to meet, somehow always missing each other when I was home visiting. Hell, I'd even been to her office the last time I was home, but she was out of town for something. Of course, Em talked about her so much, I felt like I already knew her.

I waited to draw any real conclusions until I could meet her face to face, just in case Emmett was seeing his friend through rose-colored glasses, so to speak. Nobody could be that funny, quirky, smart, motivated and that good of a cook without Emmett wanting to jump her. He always insisted she was like a sister to him, but until he got with Rosalie I never believed him. Maybe she wasn't as attractive as the pictures I'd seen had led me to believe.

Jasper and I agreed to ride together, and considering he may very well be spending the night with Alice, I volunteered to drive. I finished getting ready, raking my hands through my hair one last time in a futile attempt to make it do something, anything besides stand on end. I grabbed the flowers I picked up this afternoon to give to Alice and Bella as thanks for having me, and made my way to my Volvo.

Ten minutes later, Jasper and I were on our way to the girls' house.

"You have any idea about what to expect tonight?" I asked him as I pulled out of his driveway.

"Not at all. Alice was really excited, something about Sex on a Brownie and Superb Margaritas and board games, but she was talking so fast I barely caught half of what she was saying."

I quirked my eyebrow at him. "That sounds… interesting. I take it things are going well with Alice?"

"They're great, actually. It sounds so cliché, but I feel like I've known her forever. We've seen each other every day since we had coffee. I'm trying to take things slowly, but it's hard not to get ahead of myself with her." His eyes had a gleam in them I'd never seen before. This wasn't a normal Jasper crush. He had fallen- hard and fast - but he seemed so happy the past few days, I couldn't fault him for it.

"That's great, man. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks. I think Alice has, umm…. plans for us tonight. I really appreciate you driving."

"It's not a problem. I'm not planning on drinking too many Super-Fantastic margaritas tonight anyway. This'll just help keep me in check." I grinned, glancing over at him.

We sat in relative quiet the rest of the way to the house. Jasper broke the silence occasionally to give directions, but that was it. The great thing about Jazz is that he doesn't need to keep talking all the time. He was very calming to be around most of the time.

And calm was a good thing for me right now. I was never the type of person to get wound up over things, especially something like meeting new people. I could read people pretty well, so it made breaking the ice easy. But for some reason, I was worked up over meeting Bella. I don't know if it was because Emmett always spoke so highly of her or a strange premonition I was having, but I had the strange feeling that I should, no NEEDED to make a good impression on her.

We finally pulled into the drive and I grabbed the flowers out of the back seat.

"Flowers? Really? Esme will be so proud!" Jasper teased.

"She raised me right. I can't account for how Emmett turned out though."

We made it to the door and Jasper had barely pushed the doorbell when the door flew open and he was attacked by all four-feet-ten of Alice. She squealed and jumped into his arms, planting a kiss on his cheek.

"Well, hello to you, too darlin." Jasper chuckled once he caught his breath. His god dammed drawl coming out in full force. I rolled my eyes before Alice turned her attention to me.

"I'm so glad you guys are here!" She said as she slowly untangled herself from Jasper. "Bella's been in the kitchen all day it seems and I'll be making the margaritas soon! Come in, I'll give you the grand tour of the house!"

I had to laugh at her enthusiasm as I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. I handed Alice the flowers and thanked her for having us over. She squealed again and dashed off to get a vase to put them in.

"She certainly is… excited, isn't she?" I turned to Jasper.

"Yeah, she is." He replied with an indulgent smile. Fuck, he had it hard.

We made our way into the living room while we waited for Alice to get done with the flowers. She came bouncing back to us soon enough to start the tour. They had a nice house. Alice paused every once in a while to talk about this or that around the house and I tried to follow along, paying polite attention to what she was saying.

Alice was explaining Bella's "wing" of the house. She said that since Bella loved to cook, it was only natural that her side of the house be the same as the kitchen. We passed by and I got a fleeting glimpse of an open fridge door and caught the sound of someone singing softly, but Alice ushered us by so quickly I didn't have time to linger.

I was brought up short when she stopped in front of what could only be Bella's bedroom. It was decorated with soft earth tones with striking black and white photographs decorating the walls. Some were landscapes and others were candid shots. They were all framed and matted, and I started to wonder where she got them when I recognized Emmett in one of them.

"Alice, who took these?" I asked intrigued. They had to be from the same photographer, but they were such a good quality that it was hard to imagine that an amateur with a digital camera took them.

"Oh, Bella did. She's dabbled in just about everything, but aside from cooking one of her favorite hobbies is photography."

I let out a soft "wow" and continued looking around her room. I felt like was intruding but Alice had invited us in, so I pushed that to back of my mind. She had two large bookcases that were completely full of every genre of books imaginable along one wall, situated on either side of a comfortable looking lounge chair. There weren't many other decorations in the room besides the photographs, but those were striking enough that it more than made up for the lack of knick-knacks.

"Moving on!" Alice announced.

We made our way back to the kitchen just as Emmett and Rosalie came in the door.

"We're here, the party can start!" Emmett boomed. I had to chuckle at him. We all walked into the kitchen at the same time.

"Damn, Bells, what did you make? It smells fantastic!" Emmett commented patting his stomach in anticipation.

That was when I noticed her. She was small, but not like Alice. Maybe five-three or so. She had long, dark brown hair that was pulled up into a ponytail and the deepest chocolate brown eyes I'd ever seen. She. Was. Gorgeous. I didn't realize I had been holding my breath until I heard her laugh.

"Just a little of this a little of that. I thought we could start with some chips and dip – we have salsa and guacamole, then I have the stuff for fajitas and rice when we're ready for the main course," She blushed. Holy shit, I didn't think she could be any more adorable, but that did it. I was totally taken in by her.

"Did you make THE dessert?" Emmett questioned her.

"Of course. Do you really think I'd let you down?" She teased him.

Of course, right then, I sneezed. Really loudly. It was a knee-jerking, can't-hold-it-in, rafter-shaking kind of sneeze. And everybody looked at me. Including Bella. Her eyes went wide before she blushed again and looked down at the ground. Huh, I wonder what that was about.

"Right, well, most of you know my brother. Edward, this is everybody." Emmett half-heartedly introduced me to the crowd.

"Hi, Edward" everybody sang back at me like we were at an AA meeting or something. Alice and Rose fell into a fit of laughter and I was left to exchange an amused look with Jasper, who merely shrugged.

"Uhh, hi. My name is Edward, and I'm a sneezer," I replied trying to play along. Everybody laughed a little more.

Shortly after Alice decided it was 'Margarita Time' and shooed everybody but Bella out of the kitchen so she could make her adjective-laden margaritas. Emmett, being Emmett whined a lot, trying to get Alice to let him either drink beer or just straight tequila. Rose put her foot down on the tequila, saying she didn't want to take care of his 'drunk ass' later. I really like Rosalie. She put unapologetically put Emmett in his place.

Alice pulled out the most effective pout I've ever seen, leaving Em stunned and agreeing to drink the 'girly drinks', as he called them. I could only imagine the things Alice could get when she whipped that thing out. She'd have the world on its knees, asking how they could serve her if she decided to use it for evil.

Alice came dancing out of the kitchen with a tray of glasses filled with her "Super-Spectacular, World-Famous Margaritas" or something. I had to laugh when she handed Emmett his, it had a pink umbrella in it. He laughed it off and put it behind his ear before taking a pull of his drink.

We had a view of the kitchen from the dining room thanks to the large cut-out in the wall that had a raised bar so people could watch Bella move around the while she cut up the vegetables, presumably for the fajitas.

"Oooh, it's like you've got your own kitchen show, Bella!" Alice enthused, plopping down in one of the bar stools that faced the kitchen.

Bella chuckled and played along.

"Right now we're cutting up the peppers for our fajitas. This is pretty simple; just make sure they're not too thin, because they will shrink when you sauté them. Also make sure you cut them in long strips. We've been marinating the meat in the fridge for four hours, so it should be nice and flavorful by now. Alice, you wanna get the chips and dip out so our guests don't starve to death? I can see Emmett wilting over there."

"Hey! I haven't eaten for HOURS! I was prepping my stomach for this dinner. I can't help it if I have to eat every few hours." Emmett pouted.

Alice laid out the spread of the salsa and guacamole and chips on the dining room table. Bella came out of the kitchen to join us for a little bit, claiming that she needed to sit for a bit to rest her ankle.

I had never had such good guacamole before. It was light and tangy with the right amount of spice. Judging by the way the others were scooping it up, they thought so, too.

"This salsa is amazing, where did you get it?" Jasper seemed to be mirroring my thoughts. For some reason, Alice snorted.

"Yeah, Bella, where did you get the salsa?" Emmett smirked like he was in on some sort of inside joke.

"Oh, there's this great little place around here that makes homemade salsa. I like to make sure to always have some on hand." Bella replied a little too off-handedly.

"Uhh, I feel like I'm missing something?" I looked between Alice and Bella confused.

"The 'little place' Bella was talking about is actually our kitchen. She makes both the salsa and the guacamole from scratch." Alice replied popping another chip into her mouth.

"You made this?" My eyes were wide as I looked at Bella in appreciation.

Bella merely blushed and nodded her head.

Shortly after, Emmett whined enough about wanting 'real food' that Bella made her way back into the kitchen to work on the main course. Rose followed, offering to help. Bella put her to work getting all the fixins for the fajitas together and heating up the tortillas. I didn't really understand why tortillas needed to be warmed, but she was the chef, so I didn't question it.

The rest of us milled around the dining area, chatting and watching Bella and Rose finish our dinner.

Emmett and I were joking around while Alice and Jasper had this weird, silent eye conversation - that I'm pretty sure I was glad I couldn't hear – when Bella announced dinner was ready. I got up to help her and Rose bring everything out. I had to squeeze past her to get to the rice when I was brought up short by her smell. It was flowery, with a hint of strawberries. I had never came across a woman who smelled so good before. It took my breath away.

"Ummm, Edward? Would you mind moving? I'm kind of stuck here." Bella looked over her shoulder at me. I blinked a couple times, trying to clear my head. It was then that I realized that I had stopped directly behind her, pinning her between my body and the kitchen island.

"Oh, right, sorry about that," I said stupidly, moving off to the side. Bella merely chuckled and grabbed the skillet that had the fajita ingredients and walked toward the dining room.

It took me a couple moments to regain my composure and to talk down certain parts of my body that had become rather excited at her smell. Once I had I quickly picked up the bowl of rice and set it on the dining room table with the rest of the food.

"This looks delicious, Bells!" Emmett exclaimed. He looked ridiculous with the silly little pink umbrella still behind his ear, but he took no notice.

"Thanks, let's just hope it tastes as good."

We fell into casual conversation while we ate. I was amazed at how well everybody fit together. Everybody talked equally and they each brought their own unique additions to the dynamic. By the end of the meal, it felt as though we had all been like this for years.

Once the meals were finished, the guys shooed the girls toward the living room to relax while we cleared the table.

"So, Edward. What do you think of Bella?" Emmett asked, never one to beat around the bush.

"She's amazing." I replied simply.

"She really is." Emmett looked hesitant, but began speaking again. "Look man, I feel like I should warn you, though. If you are going to pursue her, be very careful. Her last boyfriend really fucked with her head, and she's got a major self-esteem issue because of it. She's somehow managed to convince herself that she's not worth being pursued and that nobody will find her attractive enough to want to be with her."

I saw red. How could anybody, ever treat her with anything other than complete and total devotion and admiration? How could anyone not want to kneel at her feet and tell her everyday how beautiful she is and how lucky he is that she graced his presence? I just didn't get it.

"I know dude, I don't get it either." Emmett must have read the confusion in my eyes. "Just, you know, don't overwhelm her. If you want her, go slowly. She has to see that you mean it, and that you don't plan on going anywhere."

"From what Alice has told me, Bella has a very skewed sense of herself. Maybe you should start out being her friend and with some innocent flirting before going all RomeoEdward on her. But what do I know? I'm just a board-certified psychologist at one of the most prominent hospitals in the state of Washington." Jasper added, ever so humbly.

"Got it guys. Danger! Proceed with caution!" I joked back. "Seriously, though, I can't believe anybody could have treated her like that."

"No idea, dude. I do have to warn you, though. If you do pursue her and hurt her, brother or not, you'll have to answer to Alice and me. You should have seen what she tried to Douchbag when Bella told her all the things he said to her during their relationship. She may be small, but she's fiesty."

Jasper snorted behind me, as if in reply to some sort of inside joke.

"So, yeah, maybe we should go check on the girls. Who knows what kind of torture they have planned for our after-dinner entertainment. Alice hasn't stopped talking about game-night for the past three days." I had a feeling Jasper was trying to draw attention away from his reaction to Emmett's last comment.

The girls had set out several board games and put on some music to help relax the atmosphere. We settled on starting with Taboo after Emmett put up a fight about playing Trivial Pursuit with Bella.

"I swear, she cheats," He whined to me. I just laughed at him as we paired off. We were playing boys against girls; I think to take some of the pressure off Bella and me, being the only non-couple of the group.

Alice started for the girls team. She pulled the card and took a minute to think about her strategy before she started.

"Okay. Ummm, let's see. Okay! There's the boot-thing you put on your feet, and you use them to get around on."

"Skiis!" Rosalie threw out.

"No, not skiis. Umm, there used to be these special places you went so you could use the boots."

"Ice skates!" Rosalie tried again.

"No but closer…" Alice trailed off, trying to think of another route to take.

"Roller skates," Bella said casually.

"That's it!" Alice clapped her hands and flipped her next card.

The night progressed in the same way. Emmett claimed that Rose must have fixed the scores after the guys lost the first game, so we did best two of three, but were once again beaten unmercifully. Emmett decided that Taboo wasn't his game and demanded we switch to something else.

Bella looked through what else they had to play. "Well, you've already ruled out Trivial Pursuit which just leaves Monopoly, Checkers, Scattegories and Candyland. And I'm vetoing Monopoly, because I don't really feel like being up for the next three days in an unending game. Checkers is only a two-person game. I don't think I need to remind you about the Great Scattegories Debacle of 2008, and Candyland might be a little too advanced for you, so we're running out of options, Em."

"Very funny, Bells." Emmett finally remembered his umbrella and lightly tossed it at her. She merely shrugged and put it in her ponytail.

"OH! I have a great idea!" Alice piped up, bouncing in her seat. "I'll be right back!"

"Should I be worried?" I asked nobody in general.

"Yes," everybody replied at the same time. We all laughed while Alice came back in the room carrying 6 bottles of beer. Bella groaned.

"We're going to play drinking games! It'll help us get to know each other! Our first game is going to be I've Never!" She clapped her hands in excitement.

"We're going to need to get Emmett another couple of bottles then," Bella teased.

"Aww, honey. I'll just drink yours." Em winked at her.

And so it began. It started off simply, things like "Never have I ever shoplifted" or "Never have I ever smoked pot" but as this game tends to do, it slowly dissolved into a recounting of everybody's sexual misdeeds.

"Never have I ever… had a threesome," Jasper announced. Shit. I had to take a drink at that – stupid drunken night my junior year in college, but to my surprise so did Rose and Emmett, who looked at each other in surprise.

"Really Rose? That's so hot!" Em exclaimed kissing her neck.

"Uhh, guys, can you cool it? I don't have a problem hearing about my sister's sex life, but I'd rather not see it demonstrated for me." Jasper groaned. "Edward, you're next."

"Uhhh… never have I ever had sex in a hot tub,"

"Really? Man you don't know what you're missing!" Emmett piped up. He was getting louder the longer the game went on.

"I'll pass on that, thanks. The chemicals and the smells kind of kill the mood for me. I prefer my under-water sex to be in the shower." I noticed Bella had watched our exchange with an unreadable expression on her face, but once she saw me look at her she blushed and looked away.

"Alright, since nobody else is going to say it, I will. Never have I ever had anal sex." Alice said, taking a sip of her beer.

To say I was shocked when Bella drank and Emmett didn't would be putting it lightly. Emmett had always be a bit of an over-sharer about his sex life. There didn't seem like there was much he hadn't done. I wasn't the only one who was shocked at Bella drinking.

"Really, Bella? You don't strike me as the type who would enjoy a little anal play." Rose looked at Bella with a look of curiosity.

"I admitted I did it, Alice didn't say anything about enjoying it. And frankly, if I never had to have anal sex again, I'd die a happy woman." Bella shrugged taking another sip of her beer.

"Who? When?" Alice looked at Bella with a mixture of anger and wonder.

"James," Was all she said, but I noticed that Alice and Emmett bristled at the mention of his name. This must be Douchbag.

"Alright, my turn!" Rosalie announced, stopping that line of questioning. "Never have I ever had sex in a public place. And if you drink, you have to fess up where."

Everybody drank at that one. Bella continually surprised me during this game. She appeared so innocent.

'Since it was my question, I'll go first. My favorite was the swings at a playground in the middle of the night."

"The wrestling practice room of our high school," Emmett offered up next.

"Please say that was not during the time I was wrestling? Please?" I pleaded with Emmett. Those mats were gross enough as they were.

"I'll never tell," Emmett winked at me. "Your turn, Eddie."

"Oh, right. In our bathroom during one of our parent's dinner parties," I replied. I didn't feel like sharing some of my other escapades. And I REALLY didn't feel like sharing the story of the time I had sex in the morgue of the hospital I worked at in Chicago.

"Under the bleachers during a pep rally in high school" Alice piped up.

"On my desk when I was a GTA at UT." Jasper added.

Bella blushed before answering. "The stacks of the library at U-Dub."

"Aww, man, I always fantasized about that, but was always afraid of getting caught." Emmett pouted.

"One of the benefits of working in the library is that you know the parts that nobody ever goes to."

"Alright, kids. My turn!" Emmett rubbed his hands together. I got a little worried when he got an evil glint in his eyes and looked straight at me. Shit! What was he going to bring up?

"Never have I ever had sex on a musical instrument." I had to drink. I couldn't help it if sometimes I got a little… worked up when I played my piano. It was hard not to when I am playing a really passionate, intense piece.

"Uhhh, something about tubas that get you hot and bothered, Edward?" Rosalie giggled.

"No, not a tuba." I replied trying to be coy.

"Eddie here has a thing for his piano, don'tya, Eddie?"

"You play piano?" Bella asked me, her expressive eyes full of wonder.

"Yeah, since I was 4. It's really helped keep my hands dexterous during my residency."

"He's just being modest. He also plays guitar and sings. He's a regular musical savant." I wished Emmett would just shut up already.

"You should have seen all the girls that followed him around during undergrad once they found out about that. You'd think they'd never met someone who played an instrument before." Jasper recounted.

"Oh, right. I'm sure it was just the piano playing. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the sex hair or the piercing green eyes or the carved-from-marble facial features." Rosalie piped up.

"Damn, Rose, are you jonesing after my brother?" Emmett looked a little hurt.

"Of course not. I prefer the curly-haired, dimpled, giant hunks of man meat." She said kissing him.

"Alright then. Now, who's next?" Emmett asked, his arm still around Rose as if marking his territory. He really didn't have to, I've known Rose for a few years and had no sense of attraction to her whatsoever.

"I guess I am," Bella looked a little hesitant. "Never have I ever kissed a member of the same sex." Alice and Rose drank, but nobody else did.

"Oh for the love of Bob. Come her girl." Rose beckoned at Bella after she swallowed her drink.

"Uhhh, Rose? What are you doing?" Bella looked cautious.

"Rectifying that situation here and now. Now, come here." Rose demanded in a no-nonsense tone.

Hesitantly, Bella got up from her seat on the floor and sat down next to Rose. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but the show they put on was definitely not it. Rose grabbed Bella's face and kissed her gently on the lips. Before we knew what was happening, they sighed and opened their mouths. I just about lost it when I saw Bella's pink tongue flick out along Rose's bottom lip. It had to be one of the hottest things I had seen in a long time, and I couldn't help but be jealous of Rose in that moment. I wanted Bella's tongue on my lip, dammit!

They made out for a little bit longer. Once they stopped Bella got up and went back to her seat, looking a little bit flushed and more than a little sheepish.

"Well, that seems like a good stopping-point. Bella, help me with dessert?" Alice jumped up like she hadn't just watched her best friend and boyfriend's sister make out.

"Uh, sure." Bella replied looking a little dazed.

"That was so fucking hot, Rose!" Emmett exclaimed after they had disappeared into the kitchen. I busied myself with finishing off my beer so I wouldn't have to watch his and Rose's own little impromptu make-out session.

"I'll go get you another beer, Edward." Jasper said, getting up. It appeared he was just as uncomfortable with their little display as I was.

Soon the girls and Jasper reappeared with the dessert and my beer. I thanked Jazz as he handed me my beer and the plate with my brownie on it. It looked good, but I couldn't tell what it was. Tentatively, I took a bite and moaned softly. It was rich and peanut-buttery and just plain fantastic.

"I think my mouth just had an orgasm," Alice groaned, which earned a laugh from the rest of the party.

We had just finished eating when Alice turned to me with an excited look on her face.

"Edward, you wouldn't by chance have your guitar with you?"

"It's in the trunk of my car, why?" I hadn't taken it out yet since the open-mic night I went to a few days ago. I really hoped nobody would ask why I kept it in there. I preferred to keep my performances a secret for now.

"Would you please, please play for us?" She unleashed that ridiculous pout again.

"I'll go get it," I sighed in resignation.

"Yay! I can't wait!" She bounced and clapped her hands.

A few minutes later I was settling down with the guitar in my hands.

"So do you have any requests, Miss Bossy?" I teased Alice.

"Hmmm, do you know Blackbird?"

"Sure do," and with that I began to play. I loved my guitar, I always felt so free when I was playing music.

_Blackbird__ singing in the __dead of night__  
Take these broken wings and learn to fly  
All your life  
You were only waiting for this moment to arise._

_Blackbird__ singing in the __dead of night__  
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see  
All your life  
You were only waiting for this moment to be free._

_Blackbird__ fly __Blackbird__ fly  
Into the light of the dark black night._

_Blackbird__ fly __Blackbird__ fly  
Into the light of the dark black night._

_Blackbird__ singing in the __dead of night__  
Take these broken wings and learn to fly  
All your life  
You were only waiting for this moment to arise  
You were only waiting for this moment to arise  
You were only waiting for this moment to arise._

"Ohmygosh! Edward that was amazing! Play something else!" Alice gushed.

"Any other requests?" I queried the room at large. When nobody spoke up, I began playing one my favorite Foo Fighters songs from their Echos, Silence, Patience and Grace album.

Goddamn this dusty room  
This hazy afternoon  
I'm breathing in this silence like never before  
This feeling that I get  
This one last cigarette  
As I lay awake and wait for you to come through that door  
Oh maybe, maybe, maybe I can share it with you  
I behave I behave I behave so I can share it with you

You are not alone dear loneliness  
You forgot but I remember this  
So stranger, stranger, stranger things have happened I know  
I'm not alone dear loneliness  
I forgot that I remember this  
So stranger, stranger, stranger things have happened I know, oh oh, oh oh

And I dream about somewhere, a smoke will fill the air  
As I lay awake and wait for you to walk out that door

I can change, I can change, I can change  
But who you want me to be?  
I'm the same, I'm the same, I'm the same, what do you want me to be?

You are not alone dear loneliness  
You forgot but I remember this  
So stranger, stranger, stranger things have happened I know oh oh, oh oh

I'm not alone dear loneliness  
I forgot that I remember this  
You're not alone dear loneliness  
You forgot but I remember this  
Oh stranger, stranger, stranger things have happened I know

I'm not alone dear loneliness  
I forgot that I remember this  
Oh stranger, stranger, stranger things have happened I know oh oh, oh oh, oh oh

I let the last few notes linger for a while before taking a deep breath and opening my eyes. I let my gaze fall on Bella who had an awed look on her face. I couldn't pull my eyes away from her. The air around us seemed to buzz with electricity. Emmett finally broke the moment by announcing that he and Rose were leaving for the night.

I decided that I should go as well. After saying my goodbyes and packing up my guitar I made my way back to the Volvo. I drove back to my place in a daze. When I pulled into my driveway, I took a few deep breaths. I'd only known Bella for a few hours, but I knew already that I was in deep. I didn't know how I was going to keep myself in check around her, but I knew if I wanted any chance of being with her, I had to figure it out, and fast.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N – Not mine. **

**I have two more readers! Welcome to robinxstarfire44 and tndavis to ANP! **

**I recently moved, so you'll have to apologize the gap in posting. I hope you enjoy the next chapter!**

Chapter 6

Alice

I felt consciousness slink up on me slowly. I fought it as hard as I could, but the thing about me is that once I'm awake I'm up for the day.

"Unnnnn", I whined, then I felt my bed shake. I squinted open my right eye and saw the most glorious sight I could have imagined. There, in my very bed was my sexy as hell boyfriend in all his naked glory. Well, I assumed it was naked glory – the blanket covered his lower half, but he was sure as hell naked when we went to sleep last night.

"Mornin darlin", he drawled, his voice still thick with sleep. God it was sexy.

"Mmmmm, morning to you too. How'd you sleep?" I slithered my body closer to his. Yep, he was definitely naked and sporting a fantastic case of morning wood.

"Fantastically, now that you mention it. Must have been a combination of extreme sexual satisfaction and my sleeping buddy," He smiled down at me. 'You?"

"Oh, I slept very well, thank you. So, what do you have on the agenda today? Anything that will prevent you from lying around in bed all day with me?"

"I don't think you could ever stay in bed all day, little lady," He smiled down at me and kissed my forehead. "But sadly I do have plans to run with Edward this morning, but maybe we could catch up for some lunch after?"

"Will this be a potential group outing, or just a couple-thing? Bella and I had discussed doing lunch today, too. I doubt she'd mind rescheduling, but I hate blowing her off like that. I don't really like throwing our relationship in her face." The poor girl had enough self-esteem issues as it was, I didn't like flaunting my happiness in front of her. Luckily I was a pretty happy-go-lucky person to begin with, so I didn't have to tone it back too much.

"I think that can be arranged. I'll see if Edward wants to come so she won't feel so much like a third wheel," Right on cue, Jasper's phone started ringing from the night stand.

He had a brief conversation with Edward, who happily agreed to lunch with us later. From what I could glean from the side of the conversation I heard, Edward seemed very taken with Bella. My inner Mr. Burns sneered "Eeeeexelent" at hearing that. Things were right on track. Now I just had to figure out how to get Bella to continue to be herself around Edward.

Jasper's lips on my neck brought me out of my musings. I hummed in contentment as his arms snaked around my torso.

"Edward's going to be here soon to pick me up for our run. There was one thing I wanted to talk about before he gets here and you two girls start your day. Emmett and I had a little talk about Bella with Edward last night. He's been warned to take things slowly. So whatever plans you may be concocting in that beautiful head of yours, keep that in mind, kay?"

"Of course, Jazz. Edward seems like a great guy, but my first interest is Bella's happiness. She's going to need some coaching before she feels worthy of anybody, much less someone on Edward's level."

We got out of bed shortly after that. As Jasper dressed for his run, I made my way to the kitchen to see if Bella was up yet. She wasn't, so I put on a pot of coffee and waited for Jazz to finish getting ready.

We were sitting on the couch in the living room reading the paper when there was a light knock on the front door. When I opened it I was greeted with the sight of casual Edward, wearing a t-shirt over one of those sexy UnderArmor shirts, shorts and running shoes. The clincher was that he was holding a drink carrier full of coffees and a bag of what I presumed were pastries.

"You sure do know the way to a girl's heart, Edward, but I'm taken," I winked at him and waved him into the house. He laughed at my joke and followed me to the living room.

"I wasn't sure what you and Bella would drink so I got a little bit of everything. There's hot chocolate, cappuccino, caramel latte and a black coffee," he ticked off, pointing at each cup as he listed them.

"I'll take the cappuccino, and Bella would take the latte, so you boys are left to fight over the hot chocolate,"

Jasper laughed. "There's no fight in that. I'll get the hot chocolate and Marathon Man here gets the black coffee, like I'm pretty sure he planned,"

"Marathon Man?" I asked quirking an eyebrow at Edward.

"Ummm, yeah. I'm training for the Seattle Marathon. That's kind of why Jazz and I are running today," Edward seemed almost… shy? At his admittance. It was almost like he didn't want a lot of people to know.

"Yeah," Jasper scoffed. "We'll go with that explanation."

I heard water running in Bella's bathroom and shortly after she stumbled her way into the living room. She was wearing yoga pants and a tank top (her usual pajamas) and her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail. She was totally adorable right after she woke up – kind of like you just want to cuddle up with her.

"Morning Princess!" I chimed trying to get her attention. She wasn't very observant first thing in the morning.

Bella stopped mid-stride and her eyes went wide when she saw we weren't alone.

"H-hi," was her brilliant response.

"Edward and Jasper were just getting ready to go for a run, but Edward brought us breakfast! Isn't that great?" I bounced a little in my seat.

"That is nice, thank you Edward," Bella took a seat in the recliner across from us.

Edward handed her the latte while I opened up the pastry bag and squealed in delight when I saw blueberry bagels. I pulled one out, offering one to each of us, which the boys declined on account of their run.

"Well, ladies, we must be running, literally. See you at lunch?" Jasper stood and leaned down to give me a kiss on the cheek then turned around and did the same for Bella.

"We'll be there," I smiled back up at him. "Let me know where to meet you."

"WE'LL be there, Al?" Bella asked, slathering her bagel with cream cheese.

"Yes, you and I are meeting Jasper and Edward for lunch when they're done with their run." I made a face when I said the word run. It was no secret that Alice Brandon was not a fan of exercise. At least traditional forms of exercise.

"Well, I suppose I should shower then?" Bella made to stand up while taking a sip of her drink. She froze halfway out of her chair. "Edward bought this?"

"Yeah, why? Is there something wrong with it?"

"No. It's just that it's no-whip with an extra pump of caramel." She looked down at her cup with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Isn't that the way you like it?" I was confused.

"It is, but you have to order like that. They don't just come that way."

"Huh, maybe they mixed drink orders. Or maybe Edward likes his like that too." I really didn't see what the big deal was about the drink. My cappuccino was excellent as usual.

We made our way to our rooms to shower and get ready for the day and convened back in the living room to chat and wait for Jasper's call.

"So last night went pretty well, didn't it?" I prompted.

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I know a little more about Em than I ever wanted, which is amazing considering how much he has already over shared with me, but otherwise it was a great time," Bella replied.

"Can you believe Edward's guitar playing? It was amazing. And that singing voice," I sighed. He rocked Blackbird.

"It was great. Em says he's a really good pianist, too,"

"Oh, I'm sure he's a great _pianist_," I replied trying to stifle my giggle.

"What are you Ali, 12?" Bella laughed at my lack of maturity.

"Yeah, sometimes I am," I laughed back and tossed a throw pillow in her direction. "Especially when I have sex on the brain," I prompted. I really wanted to share about my evening after Jasper and I went to bed.

"Which is always, pretty much. So, how was your sleepover? Last night was the final step in the Alice Naughty Plan, right?" Jackpot! Last night was indeed the last phase. Jasper and I had been working up to having sex, rounding all the bases individually over the past couple of weeks, trying to draw it out so to speak.

"Oh my god, yes, it was. I'm surprised you didn't hear us. That boy can do things that I couldn't even think possible. And for being so quiet, it's like a whole new person comes out when we're together. He's very… vocal. And his recovery period is almost non-existent. We could have gone at it all night if I didn't get so sore after the third time,"

"I'm glad to see he lives up to MG expectations all around," Bella smiled at me, but she had that underlying sadness in her eyes she always does when Rose and I talk about our happy relationships. Operation: Edward and Bella needs to be put to action ASAP.

"Do you think that Edward was as blessed as Em? I mean, he's not as beefy as Emmett, but did you see him playing the guitar last night? My god, he had the most amazing forearms. And his fingers? Forgiddaboutit," I fanned myself with my hand. It was a well-known fact that Bella and I both had a thing for hands and forearms.

"Yeah, I saw them, and his calves in those shorts this morning. Those things are like solid muscle. I'm betting he's been blessed. If I didn't know better I'd think that Jasper had some competition," Bella winked at me. We talked like this all the time, and she knew that I was absolutely, positively, head over heels in love with Jasper. Edward just made for nice scenery.

"Maybe I'll have to initiate another drunken skinny-dipping night sometime so we can find out," I imitated an evil laugh and stroked an invisible goatee.

"Somehow I get the impression that Edward isn't the drunken skinny-dipping type. Anyway, wouldn't you get jealous of other people seeing Jasper naked?"

"Oh, honey, that man should be naked all day, every day. That stuff's just way too good not to show off. I'm not the jealous type, so there's no need to worry your pretty little head about that. I doubt you will try to steal him and Rose is his sister, so, you know, ick," I stuck out my tongue at the thought of that.

Our laughter was interrupted by Jasper calling to tell us to meet them in half an hour at a cafe downtown. I appraised Bella's outfit after I hung up to make sure she was presentable. I approved until I got to her feet.

"You know I'm only letting you go in those, those, I _things_ because you have a sprained ankle, don't you?" Ugh. Flip flops? They're not even fancy flip flops. They're the kind you can get at Old Navy for $2.50.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm taking full advantage of my current situation," She happily wiggled the toes on her right foot to emphasize her point.

"Come on hop-a-long, let's not keep the hungry men waiting."

The car ride was relatively quiet. Bella and I were both getting pretty hungry, and neither of us was very talkative when we were hungry. We managed to find a close spot and made our way into the restaurant. Jasper and Edward were sitting at a table opposite each other. They were leaned back talking casually and laughing. Jasper got this sexy twinkle in his eye whenever he laughed, and his smile alone could stop traffic. Sigh.

I must have been staring because Bella cleared her throat beside me, bringing me out of my Jasper-induced haze. We made our way to the boys, who like the true gentlemen they are, stood up as we approached.

"Ladies," Jasper welcomed us with a nod and swooped down to kiss me on the cheek.

"How was the run?" I asked while Bella and I browsed the menu.

"Great, though I had to make Edward stop after five miles. I was about to collapse and he had barely broken a sweat,"

"Jasper here is exaggerating. He always keeps up just fine. Really, Jazz, I meant what I said when I asked you to join me in the marathon. The high you get when you finish is unbelievable," Edward was so cute when he started talking about something he was passionate about. His eyes got really big and earnest.

"I don't think I'd have enough time to train for this year's, but maybe next year. Maybe the hospital could put together a team for it," Jasper suggested.

"Can you just see Lauren from Radiology running a marathon? She'd come in full make-up and wearing jewelry," Edward laughed.

"And that other shrew she hangs out with, Jessica. You should have seen her when we walked by during your tour. I thought she was going to snap her neck trying to get a better look at you. It was disgusting,"

"You two are worse than little old ladies. Aren't you late for your knitting circle or your quilting group or something?" Bella interjected with a smirk reminding the boys that they weren't alone.

They had the good sense to look sheepish after their little gossip session. We ordered our food shortly after. After we had finished our food and were chatting happily, the waitress came by to ask about our ticket.

"Will this be on one ticket?" She asked the group at large.

"No, we'll be on one," Jasper motioned to the two of us.

"And we'll be on one," Edward piped up.

"Uh, actually, I'm on my own, thanks," Bella looked slightly taken aback. "Really, Edward, you don't have to get my meal."

"If I don't, my father will hear about it and we don't want the wrath of my father upon us. It's just the way I was raised. Cullens always pay for their companions, regardless of their association. So, please put the two of us on one ticket, please," Edward concluded looking at our slightly amused waitress. His tone indicated this was not negotiable.

"You'll have to excuse Edward, here. He was raised in the 1900s," Jasper added, jokingly.

"What? Is it so bad to want to take care of the people I care about? You've been around my parents enough to know what our expectations are,"

Thinking back, I realized what he said was true. Whenever Bella, Emmett and I would go out to dinner or the movies, he'd always pick up our tab. He'd always make some joke about us being his dates for the night and that it was the least he could do for making it look like he was out with two girls at the same time.

Wait… "people I care about"? I really hope Bella doesn't take that the wrong way. I chanced a glance at her, and she seemed to still be slightly pouty about Edward insisting on paying their bill. Luckily it didn't look like she was over analyzing Edward's comment.

After we paid and made our way back to the parking lot we stopped to discuss our plans for the day.

"Hey Belllla?" Jasper asked, trying on a sweet, coy tone.

"Yes Jasper?" She responded, obviously not buying it.

"Did Emmett leave any of that brownie stuff from last night?"

"I think there are a few pieces left. If you want some, you should probably take advantage why there's still some left. Emmett will probably be over at some point this afternoon to relieve us of any of the leftovers," Bella responded with a small smile. "I have some work to do, but you guys are welcome to come by. I'm sure Alice can keep you entertained."

"Of course I can, silly," I winked at Jasper.

"And on that note, I gotta go. Alice, Bella, it was lovely to have lunch with you. I'm sure I'll be seeing you soon. Jazz, see you tomorrow for our run?"

"Sure thing, man. See you then," They did the guy fist bump thing and Edward walked toward his car.

We made our way back to the house. Jasper made a beeline for the kitchen and was soon devouring some of the leftover brownie dessert. I joined Jasper in the kitchen, hopping up on the counter while he ate and Bella locked herself in her office.

Once Jasper finished his brownie and put his dish in the sink. He turned to me with a wicked twinkle in his eye. He stalked his way over to me and smirked. Without saying a word, he started kissing his way up my neck, stopping occasionally to suck and nip gently.

"Darlin, you have no idea how sexy your neck is," He breathed. My head rolled back and he switched his attention to the other side. "I love that it's always exposed," he took a little bite. I had to bite back a moan when he ran his tongue back over the spot he just bit.

"Jasper," I breathed, and that was all he needed before scooping me up and carrying me back to my bedroom. I could spend all day playing in bed with this man, and it looked like I was going to get the chance. I'm one lucky girl.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N Not my characters. 

**Look! An update less than a week after the last! Hurray! Sadly, this one is uber-short, given the nature of this chapter. It felt like I was going against the theme to try to expand it. **

**When I initially conceived this story, I wasn't going to include Bella's POV at all. Then, I realized that in order to understand how she progresses in her 'New Perspective' of herself, we need to know where she's coming from. This is just a teeny bit of a look into her mindset for the beginning of the story. **

**A big hello and welcome to beenacheezaWA18, CSWells and miss-behave0308! **

**I have a confession to make. I have yet to get a review for ANP. I know that isn't much of a confession, but I get all warm and tingly when I get notifications that people have added my little story. I never had grand illusions of it being the best piece of fanfiction ever written, but I'm enjoying writing it. So, if you have a chance when you're done with the chapter, let me know if you enjoy reading it. Please?**

**Now that my author's note is almost as long as the chapter, I'll leave you to read. Enjoy!**

Chapter 7

Bella's Diary

I saw James the other day. He walked up to me while I was waiting to get my pain meds from yet another sprained ankle. I wish he would just leave me alone. Every time I see him, it hurts a little bit more that even a dick-head like him wouldn't want me.

I don't know why he even wanted me in the first place. I work too much, and it's not like I'm a super-model like Rose or charismatic like Alice. I'm just plain, boring Bella. Plus he had no qualms about pointing out my flaws and he never acted like he was attracted to me in the first place.

I guess he saw what every other guy saw - a means to an end. Why would I be anything else? My schedule works perfectly for all the commitment-phobic guys of the world. I work late hours, usually getting off just in time to eat a quick dinner, watch the news and go to bed. Except when I'm seeing someone of course. Then some of those nights sex takes the place of the news.

It's not even like I'm rushing home to have sex anyway. I've always wondered if there's something wrong with me in that department. None of my partners have ever had any complaints, quite the opposite, in fact. But for some reason I don't get that much out of it. Yeah, it's fun and it feels good, but I could never understand how Emmett and Rose or Alice and Jasper could go at it all night, or even want it several times every day. I feel like I'm missing out on something. It must go back to the being a means to an end thing. Why should they take the time to give me the attention I want when all they want is their pleasure?

Anyway, back to the point. Luckily, Emmett saved me from talking to James too much when he pretty much threatened to castrate James and feed him his own balls. I am so thankful to have someone like Emmett in my life. I never had a brother and he's like my surrogate brother - my protector from the jackasses of the world.

I know that as long as Em's in my life I have someone to stand up for me. I was worried when he first started dating Rose that he wouldn't have time to spend with Alice and me, but he quickly put those doubts to rest. Rose even started hanging out with us. I have to admit, she intimidated the shit out of me when I first met her, but once I got to know her, I couldn't imagine Em without her. She's perfect for him, and she's never once made me feel like she thought she was better than me.

All my friends are pairing off and it's making me feel very left out. I'm so incredibly happy for them, but also a bit jealous. I feel bad because I can tell that Alice holds back when she's talking about Jasper because she doesn't want to make me feel worse about being single. She knows me so well. No matter how hard I try to hide my feelings, she can see right through me. She keeps telling me that my time is coming, but I don't really believe her.

See, Alice claims that the reason I haven't found anybody yet is because it's going to take someone "extra special" to be worthy of me. I honestly don't see where she gets this idea, seeing as I'm just me, but she's adamant in her assessment. I usually just laugh it off. I just can't bring myself to believe her. It'd kill me to get my hopes up only to be disappointed with another Mike or James.

Last night, I finally met Emmett's brother. He seems like a great guy. He's a pediatrician at the hospital. He had us cracking up at dinner last night telling us stories about his pint-sized patients and their over-protective parents. I think he's going to be a great addition to the group. And hopefully now I'll have a partner when we all pair off for stuff. I lost my partner when Alice met Jasper. Now we have even numbers again. Hopefully he won't meet someone too quickly, leaving me the odd man out again.

Who am I kidding? Someone like Edward won't stay single too long. He's just too… perfect. I don't know what Carlisle and Esme were drinking when they conceived their sons, but both of them are heart-stoppers. In Edward's case, I mean literally. When I first saw him last night, I swear my heart skipped a couple beats. I think he caught me staring at him. Then Alice convinced him to play his guitar and he played one of my favorite Foo Fighters songs. I was transfixed by him the entire time he was playing. It almost felt like he was singing directly to me.

But who am I kidding? I couldn't even dream of ever being with someone like Edward. I'm like, tee-ball compared to his Major Leagues. I really hope we can be friends, though. We have a lot in common, and it's nice to have someone around who gets my sense of humor.

Work is about to get crazy. We're taking nominations for the Top 10 Seattleites issue. I hope it goes over well. One would think by now I'd stop second-guessing my instincts when it comes to Sundry, but this is more than just an article. We're planning a formal reception after the issue comes out for the honorees with a dinner and ball afterward. I hate dancing, but I'm hoping that I'll be so busy with my duties of the evening that I won't have to. Wishful thinking, I know, but a girl can hope.

I can handle anything you throw at me when it comes to the publishing industry and running a magazine, but social functions stump me. I'm terrible at mingling and prefer to be behind the scenes of the action, quietly watching and doing anything that needs to be done to ensure it goes smoothly. Once you get me in front of a crowd of people and ask me to make a speech I freak the hell out. Unfortunately, as editor of Sundry, it's pretty much required that I give a speech. I have a little over two months to figure it out.


	8. Chapter 8

Hello! I heard crickets after I posted my last chapter. It's all good, like I said, not expecting to rock the world. Also, I'm pretty sure it got buried under a bunch of other submissions.

**I had this written before I posted the last chapter and since it was so short, I decided to go ahead and post this one.**

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Chapter 8 –

Emmett

"We have one more thing, and then the marathon meeting will be over. I know your attention span is about nil at this point, but stick with me, okay guys?"

We all groaned at Bella's transition. We'd been in our planning meeting for the past hour and we were getting restless.

"Yeah, I figured I'd get that response, which is why I brought goodies. Hold up just a sec and I'll grab them," Bella left our conference room only to return a few minutes later pushing a cart with a platter of sandwiches and another with drinks. Everybody muttered their thanks to Bella and grabbed some food before settling back down.

"Okay, kids. Now I have your attention, let's get to business. As you know, the Top 10 Seattleites issue is coming out soon and we just closed our call for nominations. We got around 100 nominations, but a few are duplicates, so we have about 60 nominees we need to wade through. There are packets in front of you with a copy of each letter submitted as well as an abbreviated list of just the names. Some time before Tuesday, I want you to read through the letters included and pick your top 20. We'll take those semi-finalists to the committee we've formed to help select our final 10.

"Now, before we adjourn, I want to open up a discussion about a couple of our nominees. If you'll take a quick look at the list on the top page, you'll notice a few familiar last names. I think we need to figure out if we need to disqualify anybody based on their relation to the magazine. I don't want to have any questions come up about conflicts of interest based on our selections,"

We all opened the folders Bella had placed on the tables at the beginning of the meeting. I scanned down the list and recognized a few names from the community, then stopped short my brother's name. I wonder who nominated him? I'll have to look through the letters to see when I got back to my desk.

I continued my way down the list and noticed that someone had nominated one of our other editor's fathers. I hadn't met him, but I knew enough from the way Angela spoke of her father and his reputation within the religious community he would be a good choice. Reverend Weber had started an initiative to clean up some of the neglected parts of Seattle. Most Saturdays you could find him out there getting his hands dirty, helping the volunteers clean up parks or manning the drives to help raise money for whatever cause his congregation had taken up that month. He was a good man, and would be the person I'd choose to marry Rose and I.

MARRY Rose? Holy hell. Yeah, I love her, but MARRY? As in commit my whole life to this person? Aren't I scared of commitment? Typically I am, but for some reason the idea of marrying Rose didn't scare me at all. In fact, it kind of excited me. I didn't know how Rose feels about that.

Maybe I could just ask her to live with me to start off with and go from there. She had been complaining lately that her lease was expiring soon and wasn't sure what to do about housing. Us living together would be a good next step. We pretty much lived together anyway. This way we'd be saving money. We could set up an account and contribute whatever we were saving to a fund for a wedding. Or a new house. Or a kick-ass trip to wherever we wanted to go.

"So, what do you guys think? I want to be fair in our judgment of our selections, but I also don't want to disqualify anyone just because they're related to one of our staff members," Bella looked around the room, silently asking for our input.

Bells was such a great leader. She was fair and open to suggestions, but still very much the authority figure she needed to be in order to run a magazine. We all were encouraged to voice our opinions about a piece or idea for the magazine and she made sure to consider each idea that was brought in front of her. She also had no qualms about putting us in our place when we got out of hand or when she needed to enforce a deadline.

"Well, I think it's not a big deal. There are only two nominees on the list that would cause a problem. I think we should just judge them based on their merit and not their relationship to our staff," Eric, one of our photographers, offered.

"I agree. We don't even know if they will be selected anyway," I piped up.

"Maybe Emmett and I remove our relatives' names from our packets and when we take our selections to the committee, we make it a blind judging? We'd remove the nominees' names and assign numbers instead. And the panel members from Sundry should not be Emmett or myself, so there's would be no conflict there?" Angela suggested.

"That's a good idea, Ang. If we do select one or both of the nominees connected to the magazine, I'll write an editor's note explaining the selection process. There shouldn't be any questions about fairness of the selection process, then," Bella nodded her agreement with Angela's suggestion.

"Okay, so I think that's it unless anybody has anything else they want to discuss?" We all shook our heads. "Alright, you have your assignments for the next issue as well as reviewing our Top 10, so hop to it!"

As everybody stood to pick up their things, Bella called for Angela and me to meet her in her office. We met her there a few minutes later, and she bade us to make ourselves comfortable.

"I think this goes without saying, but I'm just trying to cover all my bases. I want to make sure you both know not to mention anything to Edward or Reverend Weber about their nominations. Once the final 10 have been selected they will personally be notified,"

Angela and I both nodded our understanding and made to get up.

"Ang, that's all I need from you, but Em I have a couple other questions for you."

Once Angela made her way out of the office, Bella turned to me.

"Do you think Esme will help with the ceremony? I'm completely lost about what to do, and she does an amazing job with these sorts of things,"

"I'm sure she'd be happy to. I'll call her tonight and ask her,"

"Great, that would be a huge help," Bella replied gratefully. I eyed her warily. She looked worn out.

"You okay, B? You look kind of tired." I asked.

"Yeah, just have a lot going on. I'll be better after a good night's rest," She smiled at me half-heartedly.

I didn't want to push her on it, so I let it drop.

"You looked like you were thinking about something really hard in the meeting earlier. Anything you care to share?" She asked me, effectively taking the focus off her.

"I do, actually. I decided to ask Rose to move in with me. It was one of those lightning-bolt moments where it just kind of hits you over the side of your head,"

Immediately after I finished my sentence, Bella smiled and shook her head.

"Bout damn time, Em. We were talking about it the other day, and she really wants to. We were hoping you'd come to your senses soon,"

"Wait, you guys have been talking about this?" I was confounded.

"A little, yeah. A while back, Alice decided it was going to happen, and Rose has been hinting about it for about a month now. You really are dense sometimes, aren't you?"

"I suppose I am. Why didn't she just ask me?"

"I think Rose saw her asking you as inviting herself in. She wanted to make sure it was something you wanted without putting you on the spot,"

"Well, that does kind of make sense. Do you have any suggestions about the asking part? I mean, it is kind of a big deal, you know?" I had no clue how to approach this.

"Just ask her. I would suggest you make sure you're both sober and clothed, so there's no question of your real intent. You don't have to make a big production about it, it's not like you're asking her to marry you or something," She laughed a little bit at the end of her speech, like asking Rose to marry me was absurd. I just shifted in my seat and looked down at my hands.

"Emmett McCarty Cullen! What aren't you telling me?" Bella demanded.

"Well, I um, I kinda realized that I do want to marry her. She's it for me, Bells. And the fact that I'm not scared of the thought of marrying her is a huge deal. I just want to take my time with it. We've only been dating for about 6 months, it seems really soon to be considering marriage, you know?"

"I get where you're coming from. Just do what feels right. And remember the sober, clothed thing. No girl wants to question if her proposal –whether it be to move in or to get married – was only the result of a drunken night or a really good orgasm,"

"You're so wise, like a miniature Buddha not covered in fur," I laughed. "Oh, there is something I wanted to ask you. I noticed Mike's name is on that list. You going to be okay if he's selected?"

"Yeah, he's mostly harmless. You remember we had a pretty respectful break up. I doubt he'll cause any problems. I'll just make sure someone else is assigned his interview if we select him,"

Bella really did astound me sometimes. She always gave such great advice and had wonderful insight into most of my woman-related questions. She was my lifesaver during college on how to easily let down any girl I was seeing that got too clingy.

I made my way back to my office after our discussion and decided to go ahead and call my mom about helping with the reception. She was thrilled to help, naturally. And this was even before knowing one of her children had been nominated… three times. I looked through the letters briefly and noticed he had three letters. He hadn't even been in town for that long! Stupid over-achieving big brother.

I wrote a quick email to Bella telling her my mom would love to help, making sure to copy my mom on the email so they could get the ball rolling. They had about 6 weeks to get everything put together. It was a lofty goal, but Bella and my mom were two of the most determined women I knew. If anybody could do it, it would be them.

Once that was done, I glanced at the clock on my desk and realized it was time to pack up for the day. I made my way down to my car and decided to stop at the store on my way home and pick up some flowers and some of Rose's favorite chocolate covered strawberries for tonight. I made a quick stop at the liquor store for some champagne and finally stepped in my house just before 6.

I put the strawberries and champagne in the fridge to chill and the bouquet of what the woman at the floral department said were orchids in a vase and sat on the couch to wait for Rose to come over.

I was proud of myself for my flower selection. Rose didn't like getting roses, so I was always challenging myself to find a nice alternative. I think her dislike for them comes from the fact that everybody always got her roses because of her name. That would get tiresome after a while.

Finally at a quarter past six, I heard her car pull into the driveway. I took a few calming breaths and went to greet her at the door.

"Hey babe! How was your day?" I greeted her with a big smile.

"It was good, the criminals of the world took it easy on me today. Not that I'm complaining, but what's with the eager welcome?" She kissed me on the cheek and made her way into the house.

"Oh, I had a good day. Plus there's something I wanted to discuss with you."

At this point Rose had spotted the orchids on the table and made her way over to smell them. She sighed at the aroma and turned back to me.

"Oh really? And what would that be?"

"Wouldyoumoveinwithme?" I blurted out.

"Ummm, what was that?" She asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Would you move in with me?" I said, this time making sure to slow down and enunciate each word.

Rose stared at me for a full 30 seconds before rushing to me and flinging her arms around my neck and covering my face with kisses.

"Of course, you silly, silly man!" She finally exclaimed. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding and broke out into what was surely the biggest, goofiest grin.

I reluctantly let go of Rose and went to get the strawberries and champagne to celebrate and then we settled in to plan out the details of the move as well as talking about the idea I had come up with earlier about what to do with the savings. We were both really excited to start the next phase of our relationship.

Rose and I made love that night. I may boast about all the down and dirty screwing I've done, but the times I enjoy most with Rose and those where we take our time to enjoy and consume each other. I don't like to brag about those times because they're way too intimate, and I feel like they should be kept just to us.

* * *

The following Tuesday, we were back in a meeting narrowing down the 20 semi finalists for the Top Ten issue. Angela and I excused ourselves from the room when they discussed our respective relatives. I wasn't surprised when the both of them were selected for the final 20. Right now we were in the middle of discussing which of the two judges on the list we should select.

"They both have an excellent record and have done great things for the city," Tyler pointed out. "But Marcus is younger and I fell like he would speak better to our audience."

"That's a good point, Tyler." Bella acknowledged.

"But that's just the point, isn't it? If we select someone that has a reputation outside our target demographic, it would help boost readership, and it would potentially help when we expand to Portland." Eric countered.

Seriously? We're going to choose someone because of how they can help the magazine? Doesn't that go directly against the vision Bella had when she created this magazine?

I piped up, "Are we really going to select our nomination based on revenue? Look, yes, Aro is older, but he also got two nominations where Marcus only got one. He also has a longer track record in the community. He's been here for his whole career. Marcus only just moved here a few years ago. I think Aro would be the best choice."

"He has a good point. Hopefully, Marcus will be here for a while. He'll theoretically have more chances at being nominated. Aro will be retiring soon. I think he's the best choice for this year." Kate added.

"Shall we vote? Everybody for Marcus?"

There were a couple ayes scattered through the room.

"For Aro?"

A chorus of ayes rang throughout the room.

"It's settled. We'll take Aro to the selection committee. Tyler, Kate, I'll see you Thursday morning. We'll carpool to the meeting. Plan on it taking all morning, so block your schedules accordingly. Everyone else, get to work!"

We adjourned and I followed Bella to her office. I hadn't had the chance to catch up with her about Rose moving in other than the text we sent to all our friends. Rose and I were busy all weekend getting her apartment ready for her to move out and arranging things at my place.

"So, how'd it go? I mean, obviously it went well, but you're all good?" Bella asked sitting at her desk.

"It was great. I was nervous at first, but you were right. There was nothing to be worried about."

"You took my advice, right? Sober, clothed?" She smirked.

"I'm hurt you think so lowly of me!" I clutched at my heart in mock horror. "I actually bought her flowers and met her when she came in the door. I just kind of asked her, no grand gestures or anything like that. I did get her some chocolate covered strawberries and champagne to celebrate."

"Awww, Em! That's really sweet. I'm so happy for you guys!" She got up and hugged me. I started to thank her when her phone rang. I moved to leave but she motioned for me to stay. She had a brief but friendly conversation with the person on the line and set up a meeting for the next day. It sounded like she was wrapping up her conversation, but her next comment caught me off guard.

"Actually, I am," She was smiling and slightly evil smile. "Hold on just a moment." She pushed a button on her phone. "Okay, you're on speakerphone."

"Hey honey!" My mom's voice rang out through the speaker.

"Hi mom," I replied, wondering what the jig was.

"Emmett McCarty Cullen! When were you planning on telling me that you asked Rose to move in with you?"

Uh oh, busted.

"We were hoping to tell you in person, but apparently someone already spilled the beans. We thought you'd appreciate more than just a text message, which is what everybody else got."

"Well your father and I do appreciate that. I should let you both go now. I'll see you tomorrow, Bella."

"Thank you, Esme."

"Love you, mom."

"Love you too, honey."

Bella disconnected the call and turned to me. "Do you want to see if Rose and Edward want to get together for drinks Thursday evening? Alice and Jasper already agreed to come and I have a feeling I'm going to need one after the selection meeting."

"I'll check, they should both be free. Edward was on call last week, so he should be okay and Rose should be wrapping up a trial today, so I'm sure she'll need a drink, too. I'll check with them and confirm."

"Great. Now get out. I got work to do," Bella smiled at me.

When I got back to my office I called Rose and Edward to see if they were in for in for drinks and then proofed the copy for my pieces for the next issue. I was excited to get with everybody. It had been too long since we all hung out.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N – I had an epic fail getting this chapter out in a timely fashion. I got stuck, but Edward finally started talking to me again, so you get this chapter.**

**Welcome to .ng. and SatiricalCynic! And I want to give a huge, super-special welcome to Screams-At-Midnight for being my first ever reviewer! I feel official now that I have a review!**

Chapter 9 –

Edward

"Mrs. Carson, when was the last time you gave Aiden Tylenol or Motrin?" I sighed into the phone trying not to let my agitation at over-bearing, alarmist parents show over the phone.

"I haven't given him anything in the past twelve hours. His fever had gone down! I thought he was better." She replied frantically.

"Keep giving him the Motrin and checking his temperature every four hours and if he's not better by Monday give us a call back. Typically these things resolve themselves and his fever isn't high enough to be anything severe."

"Are you sure I don't need to bring him in? I could be there in 15 minutes." She sounded a little too eager to bring her barely-feverish son in for an office-visit.

"I'm sure. Now, if you don't have any more concerns about Aiden, I'll let you go. Keep giving him the medicine and make sure he stays hydrated and he'll be fine."

"Thank you, Dr. Cullen." She hung up. Thank god.

"Sorry about that, Doc. She insisted she needed to talk to you. I love Peds, but I swear, sometimes the parents make me want to sneak a bottle of vodka in my scrub pockets," Irina, one of my nurses chuckled.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. And don't worry about Celia. She'll be fine tomorrow when Aiden's fever breaks and she realizes that she freaked out about nothing."

"I really think she wanted to come drool over the new Doctor Cullen. Word is traveling fast around the bored housewives of Seattle that the new Peds doctor is a real-life McDreamy." Irina winked at me.

"Nah, Daddy Cullen is McDreamy. I'd say Edward is McSteamy," Kate, my other nurse smirked.

"That would explain why she seemed all too eager to bring her son in for a needless appointment. These women have too much time on their hands if all they do is sit around talking about the new doctors at the hospital." I scoffed, trying to play off the blush that appeared at their insinuations. "Oh, and ladies? Please don't talk about my dad like that. That's just disturbing."

They went back to going through the charts from today and I walked back checked our appointment sheet. We only had three more patients for today and then I was meeting everybody for drinks at a little pub. I couldn't wait to see Bella. I had only seen her once in the past week when I stopped by her office to say hello when I met Emmett for lunch on Monday.

She seemed pleasantly surprised to see me and we chatted for a couple minutes while I waited on Emmett to get done with whatever it is he does. She looked so in her element at her magazine. She just emitted an air of authority and comfort when she was in her office. It was fucking sexy. She came around and leaned against the front of her desk when I came in and I noticed she got the ankle brace off. I also noticed that she was wearing this skirt that flared a little around her knees. It showed off her legs and I had to physically force myself to look at her face so I didn't look like a pervert ogling her legs. Emmett saved me not too long after and cocked an eyebrow at me and spent most of lunch giving me crap about it.

I packed up my stuff and retreated to my office to change into a pair of jeans and remove my tie so I wouldn't have to go home and change before going to the pub. I strode out a few minutes later and Irina whistled at me.

"Looking good, McSteamy," She winked.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm getting drinks with some friends tonight. Don't stay too late, okay?" I smiled at her.

"Sure thing, Doc. Don't do anything I wouldn't do,"

I chuckled as I walked out. Irina and Kate were nurses for my predecessor. The hospital gave them the choice of staying within the department and working for me, or transferring to cardiology. They opted to stay with me, which helped the transition when I took over their patients. We built up a good rapport during the few weeks we'd been working together. They liked to give me crap about my age and appearance, but I took it in stride. Plus, the patients adored them so I can't complain.

I pulled into the parking lot near the pub where we were meeting a little early. Not having to stop at my place and change meant I got there quicker than I intended. I scanned the room and noticed that I was, unsurprisingly, the first to get there.

There was a bar that ran about halfway down the length of the building on the right side with booths lining the left. A few tables scattered throughout the space between and a small dance-floor and stage were situated near the bar at the back of the room. It looked like there was another smaller room in the back with pool tables and a couple dartboards. It had a really laid back vibe and music played, but it wasn't loud enough to impair conversation. I could tell why everybody liked this place so much.

I walked up to the bartender and handed him my credit card.

"Can you make sure all the drinks for my table get put on this card?"

"Sure thing Mr. Cullen," He replied, glancing at my card and made a note about our tab.

"Thank you," I smiled at him and went to grab a booth in the middle of the room.

Our friends filtered in gradually over the next 20 minutes. Once we were all seated we decided to get a few appetizers and conversation broke out among us.

"So Bells, how'd the meeting go this morning?" Emmett asked, leaning toward her across the booth.

"Exhausting. But we finally got it all settled," Bella replied, taking a drink out of her beer.

"Any surprises?"

"Nope, the committee went the way we thought they would,"

"I'm glad that's over. Now we can move forward."

"Says you. You're not the one who has to set everything up now. I have a little over a month to pull this all together. I'm a little stressed about it,"

"Are you guys talking about the party our mom is helping with? Something to do with notable Seattle residents?" I asked turning my full attention to them.

"Um, yeah. It's for our Top Ten Seattleites issue," Bella shifted in her seat and appeared slightly uncomfortable. She shot a glance at Emmett who shook his head slightly. "We met with the committee this morning to select our finalists. Now I have to notify each nominee and schedule an interview and photo shoot with each one before the issue comes out and the dinner in five weeks," she finished.

"When are you guys going to tell us who the finalists are?" Alice asked, pouting slightly.

"I'm curious about that myself. You've been very mum on the subject, Bella." Rose chimed in.

"Yeah, it was pretty necessary. How would you feel if you found out that you had been nominated only to find out you lost out? We're making the names public next week. We want to make sure everybody is notified before releasing the names. I'm hoping to contact everybody tomorrow. Hopefully ten of Seattle's finest citizens won't have much to do on a Friday, right?" She laughed lightly.

"Are we going to be invited to the dinner?" Alice asked.

"Of course, you all will be my guests. I'll need you there for moral support since I have to give a speech. And I'm sure everybody will want to meet the woman who designed the fabulous dress I'm going to wear," She smiled at Alice who started bouncing in her seat and promptly starting rambling about fashiony stuff that I had no clue about. I caught the words "open back" and "dark blue" and "satin", but for the most part I was lost. Luckily Emmett and Jasper started talking about Mariner's game, which unfortunately, I knew too much about.

"They're breakin my heart this season!" Jasper lamented.

"They break my heart every season," Emmett commiserated. "Hey! Eddie! You still remember how to swing?" He asked pointing to the ceiling where there were presumably speakers that were currently playing the Stray Cats.

"Yeah, I still remember." Dancing was luckily one of the things that never really left you.

"Swing?" Bella asked.

"Yeah, swing dancing. Eddie and I took lessons back in the day when it was popular. It was a real hit with the ladies,"

"Okay, this I gotta see." Rose slid out of the booth and held out her hand for Emmett.

"Hey barkeep! Can you play some more of those songs?" Emmett asked the bartender.

"Yeah, I think we can do that," he replied barely looking up. I was going to have to tip him pretty well at the end of the night for putting up with us.

Emmett and Rosalie made their way to the empty dance floor and started dancing.

"Oh. My. God." Alice giggled and grabbed her camera, taking a couple pictures for posterity. "For being so big, he's awfully light on his feet. That looks like fun! Jazz, you wanna swing with me?'

Jasper smiled and shook his head before sliding out of the booth and leading Alice to join Em and Rose. Alice squealed when Jasper lifted her up in the air.

"That looks like fun," Bella looked on slightly wistfully.

"Would you like to dance? It's been a while since I swing danced, but it's like riding a bike," I asked, hoping she'd say yes. The thought of holding Bella – even if it was to dance - was almost too good to be true.

She bit her lip and looked down.

"I'm a terrible dancer. I'm afraid I'd hurt someone, especially with all the kicking they're doing," She nodded to the dance floor where our friends were currently kicking their legs and twirling around.

"I won't let you hurt anyone, or yourself for that matter. It's all in the leading," I smiled at her.

She bit her lip again – I swear to god that lip is going to be the death of me – and nodded shyly.

"Well, in that case, Miss Swan, I'd be honored to have this dance," I slid out of the booth and took her hand. It was the first time we touched on purpose and it was exhilarating. I saw Alice glance at us as we approached the floor and smile deviously. I swear she winked at me.

I spun her to face me and started moving along with the music. She seemed hesitant at first but I decided to break the ice by spinning her out and then pulling her to me again. She giggled and relaxed.

"Looking good there, doc. Who knew the Cullen men had so many hidden talents?" Rose laughed before Emmett spun her around and lifted her up.

Alice was still catching my eye every once in a while with a conspiratorial gleam in her eye. If I hadn't known better, I could have sworn she had planned this. Whether she did or didn't, I wasn't going to complain. This was a little piece of fantastic. Bella felt so good, so right in my arms. It was hard not to imagine what it would be like to be able to hold her any time I wanted, for any reason I wanted. But I didn't need to get carried away with my thinking. I couldn't afford to get… excited and then have Bella notice. I seemed to be making good headway with Bella and I didn't want to do anything that would damage the progress we had made.

"Is there anything you're not good at?" Bella asked with a smile in her eyes. I loved that she was smiling in some little part because of me.

"Ummm… long division. Never could get the hang of it," I grinned before I swung her around again. She laughed harder as I brought her closer to me.

"Luckily they have calculators for stuff like that. And on your phone no less!"

"I'm going to pick you up now," Bella's eyes went wide and she looked at me with trepidation. "Don't worry, there's nobody behind you and I have a good hold on you,"

She took a deep breath and nodded, silently telling me she was ready. I grinned at her and grabbed her waist and lifted. She squealed and kicked her legs out then swung down, almost –almost- kicking me in the junk.

I slowly let her slide down me, our bodies pressed against each other the whole way. My breath hitched as I gently set her back on her feet. Our eyes were locked and the air buzzed with electricity the way it did when I sang at her apartment. I knew I should look away or say something or do anything to try to break away from the pull of her lips but I was helpless to it.

"Bella…" I breathed.

And then she was gone. I blinked stupidly a couple times before Rose stepped in front of me and grabbed my waist. I looked at her in confusion before I realized what happened. Emmett was now dancing happily with Bella, her laughing like she had with me. Rose had taken up Bella's place in my arms.

"Way to go, dipshit," Rose scolded, as we started moving. "Do you realize how close you almost just came to screwing things up?"

"I know, I know. Thanks for rescuing me. I just, I couldn't help it. What am I going to do, Rose?" I sighed.

"Just keep up what you're doing. I know it may not seem like it, but it's working. From what Em said, she floated on air for the rest of the day Monday after you stopped by her office. Plus, she's carrying herself differently. She's walking taller and seems more confident. You are getting to her. Just don't go fuck things up like you almost did just now."

Leave it to Rose to not mince words. I knew that I still had a ways to go in wooing Bella before she would consider a relationship with me. But the fact that she was making progress filled me with hope. We could work; everybody was in our corner. They were rooting for us and helping me. But more importantly, they were helping Bella. While I would be heartbroken and wildly jealous if she turned me down and met someone else, I would be happy – thrilled even – if she started to see herself how everybody else did. And if I played some little part in helping her see the wonderful, truly amazing woman she is, then I'd be happy.

Alice announced that it was her turn to dance with me, so I handed Rose off to her brother and spun Alice away from me and snapped her back again.

"You wouldn't have anything to do with the dancing, would you?" I asked her.

"Well, I may have _possibly_ talked to Tom the bartender about playing some form of dance music tonight when I called this afternoon to ask about their drink specials. The fact that you and Em are closet swing dancers was just a happy coincidence,"

I leaned down to her and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"Thank you, Alice. You're a meddlesome little pixie, but you're very good at it,"

"You're welcome. I just want to see Bella happy. And you, my friend, are going to be the one who makes her so. Trust me, I know these things," She said tapping her temple.

"So I've heard," I smirked down at her. "Ready for a lift?"

"Of course!" She giggled as I lifted her up and let her down, sliding her between my legs and sliding her back up again.

After a couple more songs and partner switches, we made our way back to our booth. We each had one more drink and ate the appetizers that had arrived while we were dancing. Rose talked about how glad she was that her case was over and that she had a small break before her next one started. Apparently she was working her ass off at her law firm because one of her colleagues was getting ready to relocate. It would mean a promotion for Rose.

"She'll get it, I have no doubt. My Rose is a damn good lawyer. Those suits would be idiots not to promote her," Emmett said taking a long pull of his beer.

"Just try not to work yourself too hard. Mom and dad are worried about the time you're putting in as it is," Jasper said, eyeing his sister.

"Mom and dad would worry about me no matter where I was or the hours I worked. It's their job as parents," Rose replied.

"Have you told them about moving in with Emmett yet?" He asked.

"Yeah, I talked to them on Tuesday. Mom's thrilled. She said now I can settle down and start working on making her a grandma," She scoffed.

"Rose pregnant, that would be…" Alice started.

"Terrifying," "Hot," Jasper and Emmett finished at the same time.

"Dude," Was all Jasper said.

"I'm just sayin," Emmett responded, holding up his hands.

We moved on to much safer topics after that and started getting ready to leave. I excused myself to settle the drink tab under the guise of going to the bathroom. Our waitress brought our checks shortly after I sat back down.

"Uh, miss? Our drinks aren't on our check?" Bella asked our waitress.

"They've already been taken care of," She replied and walked away, probably sensing a fight brewing.

"Who –" Bella started.

"Should we thank?" Alice finished for her giving her friend a stern look.

"Don't look at me," Emmett said

Jasper just shook his head.

"Edward, you really shouldn't do stuff like that! You know Bella gets her panties in a twist when people buy her things," Alice smirked at me.

"Well, her panties can just be twisted. It's my way of thanking you all for a nice evening. Someone else can get next time,"

Bella huffed but said a grudging thank you. We all filed out of the booth and walked out into the warm summer night. We said our goodbyes and I climbed into the Volvo and made my way home. I thought back on what Rose had said, and felt a smile creep up on my face. She said I was making progress with Bella. I did a little happy dance internally at the idea that we possibly had a chance in the near future.

I played my piano to unwind for a while after I got home. When I was done, I changed out of my clothes and climbed into bed. I fell asleep quickly with thoughts of how Bella's body felt pressed against mine while we danced, and the smell of her hair wafting through the air as it went flying when I spun her.

* * *

"Like I told you yesterday on the phone, Mrs. Carson, just keep giving Aiden the Motrin every four hours. His fever is low-grade and it's likely he just has a virus, which will resolve itself on its own. Make sure he drinks lots of water or Pedialyte and I'm sure he'll be fine in a couple days," I flipped my stethoscope back over my head and gripped the ends in an effort to not pinch the bridge of my nose in annoyance.

"Thank you so much, Dr. Cullen. I was just so worried about Evan. He's been so fussy the past couple days," Celia batted her eyelashes at me. Irina was right, apparently. She really did just want to check out the new doctor in town. Ugh. She was married for cripes sake!

I left the room and checked the patient sheet. One more and I had lunch.

"Hey doc?" Becca, one of my receptionists came up to me timidly.

"Yes Becca?" I smiled down at her. She blushed and blinked a couple times and seemed to gather herself.

"There's someone out front to see you. She said she didn't have an appointment, but was hoping to speak with you."

"Is she a patient? Did you get a name?" I asked.

"She's definitely not a patient, and her name is something with a B, I think. I'm sorry, I should have written it down,"

"Is she a small woman? Long brown hair?" I flushed, hopefully.

"That would be her," Becca smirked at me.

"Okay, show her to my office and I'll see her when I'm done with Madison," I tried to say offhandedly, but I'm pretty sure Becca and Irina –who had by that time come to eavesdrop- could see right through me.

Bella! Bella was here to see me! Here! Where I work. Holy crap, my office isn't a mess is it? Shit, shit, shit. Why was she even here? She said she'd be busy all day calling people for her people issue. Maybe she'd go to lunch to me.

I finished with Madison's physical and took a few calming breaths before heading to my office. She was standing in the middle of my office examining my diplomas.

"Aren't we a smartypants, Dr. Cullen," She turned to me with a smirk on her face, emphasizing the word doctor.

"Bella, it's lovely to see you again," I said, leaning against the doorway to my office. "What do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

She cleared her throat and shifted on her spot.

"Well, actually I'm here on official Sundry business. It's my pleasure to inform you that you have been selected as one of our Top Ten Seattleites," She finished with a smile, probably at the shocked expression that was gracing my face.

"I- what? I haven't even been here that long," I was completely flabbergasted.

"Well, apparently you've made quite the impression on the community in the short amount of time you've been here," She held out a manila envelope to me. "This is your official letter, along with copies of the nomination letters we received. Angela will be doing your interview, so expect a call from her in the next week. We're also doing a photo shoot that will be scheduled the same day as your interview. It should probably only take a couple hours," she finished.

"Bella, I'm honored. This is amazing. I thought you were calling all the nominees,"

"I was, but I was on my way to lunch and in the area, so I figured I'd just drop off your packet. Plus I couldn't resist the opportunity to see where the good doctor works," She grinned at me.

"Well, let me give you the grand tour, then," I swept into my office with my arms held out wide. "This is my office. My desk and computer where I do official doctor stuff and most definitely have not played any games of Spider Solitaire. You've already seen my diplomas. What else? Oh, yeah! Here's my bookshelf where I keep all my important medical journals so I can keep the children of the world happy and healthy. This is my doctor coat and this is the ever-important stethoscope," I finished holding up my stethoscope ends.

"Very nice, Doctor," She giggled at my silly display. Mission accomplished.

"Well, I was just getting ready for lunch myself. Would you care to join me?" Please, please, please say yes. Please say yes. Please say yes.

"I'd love to. Did you have any place in mind?" YES! She said yes!

"Well, I hope you don't mind getting out of the hospital. I've had my fill of cafeteria food for the month," I replied.

"Leaving is wonderful. There's a café down the street, would you like to go there?" She asked, biting that damn lip again.

"Oh, Sophie's? I love that place. Let me switch out of my 'doctor coat' and we'll head out,"

We walked down the block to Sophie's and were seated outside, as it was a rare sunny day. Bella smiled and lifted her face up to the sun. She looked radiant with the sunlight hitting her face like that.

"I've never noticed that your hair has bits of red in it," I commented.

"Yeah, my maternal grandfather was full-blooded Irish, I get my pale skin and what little bit of red hair the dominant genes have seen fit to leave me with from him. I obviously don't have as much Irish blood in me as you do, with your hair and green eyes. I've always been jealous of people with colored eyes. It's sad to think they may disappear in time," She lamented.

"On the contrary, I've always thought brown eyes were beautiful. It's such a rich, warm color. Your eyes, for example, look like dark chocolate. And now I want a brownie, thanks, Miss Swan," I winked at her, hoping to lighten the mood.

She smiled and looked down at her menu. We placed our orders when the waitress came by and spent the rest of our impromptu lunch date chatting about everything from genetics – which she knew surprisingly a lot about – to her plans for the reception.

I was still reeling from the knowledge that someone nominated me and commented about it. She then went on to inform me that it wasn't one person, but three that nominated me.

"Look in your packet, your letters are there," She told me, taking a drink of her tea. "I have to admit that I'm impressed with what you've done, and your efforts to raise money for the pediatric oncology unit at the hospital. I knew you were training for the marathon, but I had no idea you were getting sponsors to donate."

"It isn't something I talk about. My dad's the only other person who knows, and that's because he's my partner in it. I'm not doing it for the recognition; my goal is to help kids. They have to go through so much as it is, I really want to make their experience as comfortable as possible."

Bella leaned forward and placed her hand on my arm. The look in her eyes was a cross between sincerity and admiration.

"That's amazing, Edward. And we don't have to say anything about it in the article if you don't want. There's plenty Angela can write about without it,"

"I appreciate that. I'll think about it and let Angela know when we speak. The marathon is before the issue comes out, so it may not be so bad. I appreciate your cooperation. It means a lot," I looked at her, hoping to convey how much I did appreciate her discretion.

"I also won't tell our friends. That's your thing to tell, if and when you're ready," She leaned back up, taking her hand off my arm. I immediately felt a sense of loss when she removed it.

My phone started chirping in my pocket, telling me my time with Bella was at an end.

"Alas, Cinderella, I must get back to the hospital before I turn into a pumpkin," I sighed dramatically.

Bella giggled and gathered her stuff. We walked back to the hospital in comfortable silence. I had to restrain myself for reaching out and grabbing her hand. We parted ways at the hospital entrance. I thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest when she leaned in and gave me a hug, thanking me for lunch.

"Believe me, Bella. The pleasure was all mine," I replied and reluctantly turned and made my way back up to the pediatrics department. Kate and Irina gave me sly looks the rest of the afternoon, but I barely noticed. I couldn't get rid of the goofy smile off my face for the rest of the day.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N – ***Warning – slightly longer than usual author's note ahead*****

**First off, Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer. And Monty Python belongs to Monty Python.**

**Special holla to Manutd10 for my second review! **

**Welcome to Savanna06, twilightkps1, SecretEmpath, missingcolton and Twilightchick16. Thank you so much for your interest in my story! I love getting alert emails.**

**An apology to with . love .ng, whose name got cut off in my last author's note. It wasn't intentional!**

**If my lovely readers haven't noticed, I like movie quotes and they're rampant throughout this story. This chapter is pretty movie-quote intensive, but the first part is kinda heavy so I needed to lighten it up a bit. And nothing lightens a mood like some Monty Python.**

**Oh, and there's a lemon in this chapter. I really wanted my first lemon to be Edward and Bella, but 10 chapters with no lovin just seems cruel. I've noticed authors generally warn readers of lemons, so consider yourselves warned!**

Chapter 10 –

Alice

"I had lunch with Edward again today," Bella told me out of the blue.

I looked up at her in surprise and took the pins out of my mouth.

"Say what?" I asked her, getting up from my knees.

She shifted slightly on her spot and looked down at the dress I was currently fitting her with. "Yeah uh, his interview and photo shoot were today, and I went to check things out to make sure everything was going smoothly. You know how I am sometimes. Well, he was finishing up right around lunch time, so it just kind of happened."

"Did Emmett come along?" I asked, going back to fiddling with the hem I was working on.

"We didn't even think to invite him, actually. He acted a little offended when I got back, but he let it drop pretty quickly. I was pretty surprised about that, actually. He would normally tease me endlessly about forgetting him,"

"Maybe he was preoccupied? Does he have a piece due soon or something?"

"He is working on the interview for Judge Aro tomorrow. He was so excited when he got that one. Robert is one of the more prestigious of our selections, so it's a big deal to be interviewing him. That's probably what his deal was, come to think of it," she conceded.

I went back to pinning the fabric for Bella's gown for the reception. She was going to look fab-u-lous. I'd settled on a rich, dark blue satin and lace gown with a cutout back. Right now I was working on the skirt of the dress making sure it wasn't too long so she wouldn't trip.

"So, how was the lunch?" I asked. This would be the second one-on-one lunch that Bella and Edward had in the past week. Bella had come home Friday night with her head in the clouds.

"It was good. It's odd; there are times when we're talking that if I didn't know better I could swear he was flirting with me. And when we passed Tanya Landau on our way out, he hardly acknowledged her, even though she was fawning all over him. He politely greeted her and then turned to me and asked if we were ready for lunch."

"And why exactly is it surprising that he would ignore Tanya?"

"I don't know, she's gorgeous, obviously. And she's talented, of course, since she's one of our nominees. Have you seen the work she did with the Constantine development? Some of those buildings are unreal." Bella put in, like it was the most obvious thing in the world that he would prefer Tanya to Bella.

I stood up again so I could face Bella when I set her straight.

"I need you to look at me, Bella," When she looked at me and when her gaze was steady, albeit confused, I continued. "Yes, she's a good architect. Yes, she's pretty. But, here's the thing. YOU are gorgeous. YOU are successful," Bella scoffed. She had the audacity to scoff at me!

I let out an exasperated sigh and turned her around to face the three-way mirror in my office.

"LOOK at yourself, Bella. For Christ's Sake! How can you not see this? How can you not believe how beautiful you are?"

"Alice, I-" Bella made to argue.

"NO. We are stopping this here and now. You have wallowed for far too long. Do you not see how James is still affecting you? By continuing to see yourself like this, you let him have power over you! You need to get past this. When he told you those things it was the darkest form of blasphemy. You are beautiful. You are sexy. You're wicked smart and have an amazing sense of humor. You're a successful magazine publisher. You. Need. To. Stop. This. NOW!" I stomped my foot for emphasis.

Bella looked at me in stunned silence. Then she inexplicably broke out into a fit of giggles.

"Did you… did you just… Alice! Just stomp your… stomp your foot... AT ME?" She managed to squeak out between giggles.

"I'm glad you're taking my heartfelt intervention so seriously," I huffed at her and crossed my arms across my chest.

Bella took a few calming breaths and stepped off the pedestal on which she was standing and put her hands on my shoulders.

"Look, Alice. Thank you. Thank you so much. It wasn't my intention to demean what you said like that. It's just that the moment was so heavy and then you had to go stomp your foot. I know what you're saying and I do see it. I do. I've felt different lately. When I look in the mirror I see me, not what James convinced me I was. I don't know what's changing, but it is.

"Thank you so much for putting up with me lately. I know it wasn't easy. I've been such a Debbie Downer since I broke up with James. It feels like whatever it was that he broke inside of me is finally healing. And that has so much to do with you and Em. You two have been so great to me, I don't know if I'll ever be able to convey how much you guys mean to me. Honestly," She finished and wiped at a tear that had formed during her speech.

"Oh, sweetie. I love you. I just want to see you happy," I sniffed and threw my arms around her. "Now, get your ass back up on the pedestal. I'm not done with your hem."

"Yes, mistress Alice. This dress is going to be amazing. One of your best, I think," She said while she resumed her place on the stool.

"Why thank you. Now, back to our original topic. I want to know more about your lunch with Edward. You said that it feels like he flirts with you sometimes?"

"It does. And he always seems so genuinely happy to see me. But he's always so polite and nice to everybody, sometimes I wonder if it's all in my head, or if it's maybe wishful thinking," Bella turned a deep shade of red at that.

"Wishful thinking?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, well, you know. He's gorgeous, and smart, and funny and incredibly generous and so humble. He doesn't want people to know all the good things he does, because he doesn't do them for the recognition, but for the simple act of doing something to help people. It's almost like he's some sort of do-gooding super-hero that stalks the streets at night and then goes back to his mild-mannered alter ego during the day"

"What are you talking about?" I asked her curiously. I hadn't heard about him doing charity work.

"I can't really talk about it, it's his to tell if he decides to. Like I said, he doesn't do it for the recognition, though it got him some since he was nominated for our issue.

"Shit, Al, I don't know, it feels like I don't have my head on straight when it comes to him. He just comes in and scrambles everything all up. Before he came along, I was content, happy even, to run my magazine and be with you, Em and Rose. But now, hell, I don't know. Every time I see him I want to lick him. He befuddles me by just being near and then he goes and unleashes those eyes on me and I have a hard time remembering my name."

Thank god she finally realized her feelings for the kid. This would make things much easier. My next hurdle was to encourage her to act on her feelings. This, of course, is easier said than done.

I had finished with her hem so she stepped off the podium again and made her way behind the screen to change.

"You mess up that dress I'll have your ass on a platter. What do you plan on doing about Eddie boy?" I asked

"I'm taking the utmost care of your marvelous creation, Miss Brandon. I have no idea what to do about Edward. Like I said, there are times when I could swear he's flirting with me, but he does it in such a reserved way that I don't know if it's because he's interested in me or just how he is," Bella stepped out from behind the screen and carefully passed the dress over to me.

"Do you flirt back?"

"In my very awkward, ineffective sort of way I do. I mostly just joke with him, but you know I'm shit at the hair-flipping, eyelash-batting kind of flirting. I'm just not that girl,"

"Bella, I'm going to tell you something, and I don't want you to over-think it, or question it or go all Bella about it, okay?"

"Ummm, sure?" She looked slightly worried about what I was going to say.

"I've seen the way he looks at you and it most certainly isn't how he looks at me or Rose or any other girl I've seen him around. I don't necessarily know what that means, but I'm willing to bet he's at least a little interested," That was a blatant lie since I knew for a fact that he liked Bella a hell of a lot, but we needed to do this on Bella's terms and not freak her out with thoughts of love and marriage and babies quite yet. Because anybody who looked at the two of them together knew that's right where this was heading.

"Just trust your instinct on this, babe. I know you haven't in the past and I think it's time you started. And if that fails, trust mine, it's never failed me in the past. Right now my instinct is telling me that you need to keep your eyes open and see where things go. Now, let's go home. Jasper is bringing us dinner and we don't want to keep the boy waiting," I playfully smacked her ass and we started making our way out of my office.

"Did I tell you that Em and Rose are having a housewarming get together this weekend?" Bella asked as we were walking out.

"I knew they were thinking about having one, but I didn't know they'd set a date."

"Yeah, it's this Saturday. Rose is having it catered or something, so all we have to bring is drinks if we want."

"Why didn't she ask me to help? I'm great at that sort of stuff," I was slightly offended. Rose knows I live to plan stuff. It was my dream to open a wedding planning business and help the brides design their dream gowns. It would be a small, exclusive operation, but I already have great contacts in the event planning industry, so it would be an easy transition when I decide to make it.

I had actually been thinking about doing it more and more recently. I was in a good position financially and some of my dress designs that I've done here and there are starting to gain recognition. The only thing holding me back is that I wouldn't want to leave work in the middle of the seasonal transition. I planned on training my replacement while gradually scaling back my time at the store. If it all goes as planned it'd take me around 6 months to complete to where I would be at the salon full time.

"I think they didn't want to bother you. They know you're really busy at work and now you're making my gown for the reception. Plus I think they wanted to hire someone so we can all relax and enjoy the party," Bella replied. By this time we had made it to our cars. "I'll see you at home."

We hugged quickly and both hopped into our cars and started for home. I couldn't wait to get home and curl up with Jasper. He had this amazing way of calming me, which was exactly what I needed tonight. It had been a stressful day and all I wanted right now was some Jasper time.

* * *

"You ready, Bells?" I asked as Jasper and I were waiting on her to finish getting ready.

"Just about," Bella said, poking her head out of her bedroom door.

Five minutes later, Bella waltzed out of her room in a fantastic dress we bought a few months ago when the new line came out. It was a bright, emerald green with a flouncy skirt that fell to right above her knees and demure cap sleeves. The neckline was just low enough to be enticing without being obvious. It looked lovely on her. She wore silver kitten heels, since we decided that until her ankle is fully healed she shouldn't wear anything much higher.

"You lovely, as usual, Miss Bella," Jasper stood up and kissed her hand.

Bella blushed softly and returned Jasper's kiss on his cheek.

"And you look dashing, as usual. You have to tell me who dressed you," She said with a wink.

"Let's get this show on the road!" I announced and grabbed the housewarming gifts we'd picked out.

We rode quietly in Jasper's BMW. He seemed so clean cut and straight laced until you saw his tattoos and knew that he had a Ducati parked in his garage at home. I just about had a fit when he took his shirt off the first time and I saw the Greek Psi on his left pec. He had to explain to me that Psi was the symbol for psychology. Apparently Edward has one of the medical symbol in the same place. They went and got them after they found out they had been accepted in to their respective graduate programs.

He has another on his back that's the Latin translation of "Only the educated are free". It stretches between his shoulder blades in elegant, looping script. I loved laying in bed tracing the letters with my fingers over and over. More often than not, he'd fall asleep while I did it.

Bella was squirming in the backseat by the time we pulled into Emmett and Rose's driveway. I had a feeling she was aching to see Edward again, but was too embarrassed to admit it. I looked around and didn't see his car yet, so I guessed he was running a little late. She handed off the bamboo plant we got them before stepping out of the car. It was kind of an unspoken rule that we didn't trust Bella with anything breakable after she dropped a glass baking dish full of the dessert she'd made for a party one night. The glass broke and naturally the dessert went all over the driveway.

Emmett answered the door and ushered us inside. Rosalie strode out of the kitchen to greet us and I handed her the plant.

"It's tradition to give a bamboo plant as a housewarming gift," Bella explained. "It's supposed to bring good luck."

"And the horseshoe is supposed to be placed above the door for the same reason," I supplied, explaining the other symbol we gave them.

"We'll always take a little extra luck," Rose smiled, taking the horseshoe from me.

"And I brought beer," Jasper grinned and held out the box to Em.

"Dude! It's a build-your-own six pack! That's sweet!" He bumped Jazz's fist.

"Edward has another. We thought it'd be cool to pick out four different beers to try them out."

"Sweet. He'll be here in a bit, he just called and said that he was running a little late," Em said and waved us all into the living room while he put the beer in the fridge.

"There are hors d'ouvres and drinks on the bar, please help yourselves," Rose said as we all sat down in the living room.

"Hey Herbert?" Emmett addressed me as he came in the room.

"Yes, Big Popa?" I replied, smiling at him.

"We got stuff for margaritas in case you wanted to make some," He patted me on the head before sitting down.

"Why did he just call you Herbert?" Jasper asked me.

"It's an inside joke. In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the King of the Swamp addresses his son Herbert as Alice. Em thought it was so funny he started calling me Herbert."

"I've never actually seen that movie," Rose said.

There was a collective gasp.

"What?!?!" We all replied.

"Um, I just never really had the chance to watch it," She replied slightly sheepishly.

"Oh, that settles it. We're watching it tonight," Bella responded. "Emmett has a copy around here somewhere."

The doorbell rang shortly after and Emmett jumped up to get it.

"That'll be Edward."

We heard the door open, and what sounded like a scuffle.

"Seriously, Em, let me in!" Edward said, sounding slightly agitated.

"None shall pass!"

"Oh god…" Edward groaned. "May I please come in, good sir knight?"

"I move… for no man!"

"What's he doing?" Rose whispered to me.

"It from the movie, you'll understand when we watch it." I whispered back.

"Hey Em, as much as I love to watch Edward chop off your limbs, I'd like to drink some of that beer soon. Just let him in," Jasper called to the foyer, trying to keep he laughter under control.

Once the boys came back in and everybody got settled in with their drinks and food, Emmett put in the movie.

"Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?" I asked.

"Please! This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Let's not bicker and argue over who killed who." Jasper added

"I fart in your general direction. Your father was a hamster and your mother smelt of elderberries!" Emmett chimed in.

"Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony." Bella piped up.

"You must bring us… a shrubbery!" Edward quoted.

"Uhh, guys? Aren't we supposed to be watching the movie?" Rose asked.

"Oh, we will, but this is just the credits. This has nothing to do with the movie, unless you'd like to watch the first few minutes of Dentist on the Job. We were just giving you a preview of what you can expect." I told her.

"But if you'd like you can spank us," Bella giggled

"And after the spankings, the oral sex!" Emmett was now laughing uncontrollably.

"Maybe we should shut up and let Rose watch the movie before she turns us into newts," Jasper said.

I took a moment to assess the seating situation. I was sitting in the recliner with Jasper sprawled out on the floor leaning against my legs. Emmett and Rose were sharing the sofa based on the sheer size of Em, which left Bella and Edward on the loveseat. They looked so awkwardly cute sitting there. I could tell they both wanted to touch the other but were too scared. I caught Edward's eyes around the time the credits were talking about the "majestic moose" and gave him a slight nod. He grinned at me and shifted slightly so their legs were touching. Bella exhaled and a small smile graced her face.

I nearly lost it when the guys sang the Camelot song. I was holding it together quite well until Emmett very austerely sung, "I have to push the pram a lot!" in his deep voice. They knew all the words to the song, and harmonized quite well.

By the end of the movie Edward had put his arm on the loveseat behind Bella and she had shifted so she was leaning slightly against his side. Occasionally he would lean down and whisper something in her ear and she would laugh. Those two were just too darn cute.

When it finished everybody looked expectantly at Rose, who had remained relatively quiet through the whole thing.

"So what'd you think, Babe?" Emmett asked.

"Eh, it was okay, I guess. I don't get what the fuss was about," Rose said.

Jasper gasped and clutched his heart. "You wound me sister! How can you not appreciate the cinematic genius that is Monty Python?"

"She obviously doesn't get the intellectual humor of it," I said.

"I think this is one of those things that's just going to have to be filed under 'differing interests' tab of our relationship," Rose said.

"I suppose it may be necessary for domestic bliss," Emmett conceded giving her a kiss on the nose.

"How'd the interview go? You met with Judge Aro yesterday, didn't you?" Edward asked Emmett.

"I did. It went really well. He's a good man. He talked candidly about some of his earlier cases and his experience when he first became a judge. A lot of people see him as a bad guy because of some of his rulings, but really, he's upholding the laws to the best of his ability,"

"I'm glad it went well. Jake said he was incredibly cooperative during his photo shoot," Bella said, stifling a yawn.

"Yeah, and he has a great sense of humor, which you don't really expect from someone in his position," Emmett replied.

"Have you had the chance to work with him yet?" Jasper asked Rose.

"Not yet, but I hope to," Rose said, also yawning.

"I think the ladies are crashing. Shall we get you home?" Jasper asked Bella and me.

"Sure, sure," Bella said.

We all said our goodbyes. We all surreptitiously kept an eye on Edward and Bella when it came time for their farewell. He bent down and said something in her ear and then kissed her on the cheek, which had at that point become the color of a tomato. She shyly smiled back at him and wished him good night.

"You two seemed quite cozy back there, Miss Bella," Jasper smirked in the rearview mirror.

She flushed again and looked down. "I didn't even realize that I was moving until the movie was over and I was practically in his lap."

Jasper and I exchanged a meaningful look and let it drop. We didn't want to push her too much, so we were quiet for the rest of the ride home. When we got in, we bade Bella good night and went to my room.

"You tired, darlin?" Jasper asked when I sat down on my bed to take off my shoes.

"Not really, why?" I asked, but I had a pretty good reason what he was up to.

"Oh, just wondering…" He trailed off as he slid a finger down the column of my throat.

I moaned quietly. He started kissing his way along my neck. He gently pushed me down on the bed and pushed the strap of my shirt to the side so he could move his attention to my shoulder.

He moved his way to my other shoulder, and finally getting tired of it being in his way he slipped my blouse off over my head. Once it was removed he looked at my chest with a hungry expression. I moaned when he licked his lips and looked into my eyes and I saw lust and love and adoration reflected back. It felt like we hadn't spoken for hours, but with Jasper and me, our bodies had a language all to themselves.

He pounced on my then, taking one of my hard nipples into his mouth and rolling it around with his tongue. I felt his hand come up and mimic the motions his mouth was making with his fingers.

I was squirming and moaning lightly under him. My legs were rubbing themselves together to relieve some of the pressure that was building up in my core. I was hardly aware of how my pants and panties were removed, but suddenly his hand was dipping between my legs to feel the wetness that had gathered there. He groaned deeply and pushed his hips against my leg he was straddling. My god, he was hard.

While he was rubbing my clit he came up and started devouring my mouth. I started frantically clawing at his shirt, wanting to feel his bare skin against my heated chest. He got the hint and shrugged out of his shirt, taking the chance to kick out of his jeans and boxers so we were both naked.

I don't know how much longer he teased me by sucking on my ear lobes and nipples while slowly stroking my clit but it soon came too much. He was teasing me, giving me just enough to wind me up, but not enough actually make me come.

I whined and shuddered under him, and he finally decided he was ready to enter me. He gently laid himself between my legs while looking at me reverently. I always felt so adored and wanted when I was with him. He leaned down to kiss me, sucking on my bottom lip while he slid into me.

He languidly slid in and out of me for a time, just enjoying the feeling of our two bodies together. I grew impatient and started meeting his strokes with more and more force and then our worshipful lovemaking transformed to passionate fucking.

I moaned loudly and felt myself tightening around him. He must have sensed it, too, because he hitched my legs up around his waist and deepened his thrusts. The change in angle was enough to throw me over the edge and I held on to Jasper for dear life while I rode out my orgasm. I felt myself pulsate around him over and over and a flood of warmth spread throughout my body. I was vaguely aware of my embarrassingly loud moaning, but I had no control over myself to stop it.

I was still shuddering around Jasper when I felt his thrusts speed up and become erratic.

"Holy fuck, Alice," He moaned out loudly and then started jerking above me. I felt his cock throb inside me and his moans became louder and less intelligible.

When he finally finished riding out his orgasm he collapsed on top of me and I reveled in the warmth and weight of him. I knew I had to get him to roll off of me before he fell asleep, but I really hated to disturb him.

"Jasper, baby, you gotta move," I shook him gently.

"Mumph," was his intelligent reply.

"Seriously, I gotta pee," I tried to push him off me.

"Fine, fine," He groaned and rolled off to the side.

I kissed his cheek and hopped out of bed to go the bathroom and get a drink of water. Once I took care of my business I crawled back in bed with my man and fell into a peaceful sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN – The characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**Welcome to kateocd and kerry-b! **

**I'm going to post more at the bottom, but I want to apologize for the gap in posting. **

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 11 –

Emmett

"How was your lunch with Bella the other day?" I asked Edward after we sat down for lunch the day after Rose's and my housewarming party.

"It was good. Sorry for not inviting you, by the way," He responded stirring his tea with his straw.

"Not an issue, dude. I was swamped getting ready for my interview and proofing some other pieces so it was best I stayed at the office anyway."

"Have you talked to Bella at all since then? I noticed she was a lot more relaxed and comfortable around me last night than she has been in the past."

"Not that I can think of. We've been so busy at the magazine lately that we really haven't had the time to chat. Though now that you mention it, she did seem different on Friday and yesterday. Maybe you being an unrelentingly charming bastard has finally started having an effect on her?" I winked at him so he knew I was just playing with him.

"It's possible, but I think it's more than that. I'm not complaining, of course. It's great. I'm getting kind of tired of holding back around her, you know? It's exhausting having to keep myself in check all the time making sure I don't over-do the attentions I give her."

I thought for a moment, staring at the paper placemat that detailed the Chinese astrology symbols. Hehe, year of the Cock. Wait, we're serious right now.

"Maybe it's time you stepped up your game. The Bella I've seen the past couple days is a lot like the Bella that I knew when we first met. Which means she's a lot more self-confident outside of work than she has been recently. Maybe she won't completely dismiss your attentions now," I finally said. "Now, that doesn't mean that you should go overboard on her ass and name a star after her or whatever romantic bullshit you may have bouncing around in your head. Just, you know, don't 'hold back', as you put it, so much."

Edward nodded in thanks to our poor waitress when she dropped off our food. I thought she was going to have an aneurysm when she walked up to our table to take our orders and saw the Cullen boys sitting there. Her eyes bugged out of her head and she flushed noticeably. Yeah, we have that effect on the ladies.

"I would never name a star after Bella," Edward huffed defensively.

"You get my point, though? You're the hopeless romantic of the family and to someone who isn't used to the big gestures like Bella it could be a little…overwhelming."

"Yeah, I get your point. And I do believe dad takes the title of Hopeless Romantic in our family. How can you forget his proposal to mom? Or their 25-year anniversary? I mean, the man has her name sewn on the inside collar of all his scrub tops for Pete's sake."

"You know, I asked about that one day and he told me it's because it calms him during surgery to have her so close to his heart. You have to admit, the man is smooth." I added, taking a bite of my lo-mien.

"We did have a great role model in our father," Edward agreed.

"Did you know that I was born in the year of the Cock?" I asked Edward, who choked on the drink he was taking. "I mean, it makes sense, right?"

"What the hell, Em? You can't just bust out with that shit when I'm taking a drink." He laughed trying to mop up the tea he spilled down his shirt.

We finished lunch with light-hearted banter after that, being completely immature asses when we got our fortunes and added "in bed" to the ends.

"Excitement and intrigue follow you closely wherever you go… in bed!" I declared reading mine – making sure to eat the cookie first, which is the proper way.

"A thrilling time is in your immediate future… in bed!" Edward read his, barely being able to finish before bursting out into laughter.

Our waitress looked at us funny when she returned our credit card slips, making a hasty retreat when she took in Edward's giggling. The dude may be all sorts of smooth with the ladies and have a panty-dropping grin, but he giggles like a damn 13-year-old girl when he gets started. Granted it doesn't happen very often, but once something sets him off, it's hard to stop him.

Five minutes later he finally composed himself to occasional hiccups of laughter and we made our way out to the parking lot.

"Care to tell me what all that was about? I mean it was a funny fortune and all, but not really worth that sort of reaction," I asked, eyeing him carefully in case he started up again.

"It struck me as funny because it's so not going to happen," He chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. "At the rate I'm going, it'll probably be 2012 by the time I have sex again."

I started to say something, but he must have seen the brother bear in me rear up in Bella's defense.

"No! Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy to wait for Bella, and believe me when I say there's nobody else I want to be with, but damn. I feel like Sisyphus right now, rolling a damn boulder up a hill when it comes to her."

"I know it has to be frustrating, but it'll be worth it in the end." I still felt the need to protect her.

"I know, man. I know." He patted my back.

We said our good-byes after that and headed our separate ways for the day. Rose wanted to go to Target and look at stuff to redecorate the house with (apparently there is "too much testosterone" in the house) and then she needed some help working on Roxy.

* * *

"You got a minute, Em?" Bella asked tapping lightly on the doorframe to my office.

Since I was staring off into space daydreaming, I hadn't heard her approach and nearly jumped out of my skin when she spoke.

"Yeah, sure. Anything for you, B!" I said, still flustered.

"Good daydream?" She smirked at me and moved into the office and closed the door behind her.

I coughed out a response and shuffled some papers around on my desk. Truth was, I was remembering how Rose showed me just how much she likes working on her car last night.

"So, I wanted to talk to you about something non-work related, but since we've been so busy lately it's been hard to catch you alone." Bella looked slightly awkward and was holding an envelope in her hands.

"Whatya want to talk about?" I asked leaning back in my chair.

"Well, I actually wanted to thank you. For everything you've done for me over the past year. I was a wreck when I broke up with James and even during our relationship I wasn't the best friend to you. You stuck with me when I was a mess and did everything you could to help me get through it. It sounds kind of weak after everything you've done, but thank you," She blushed and looked at me from under her eyelashes.

I was up and around my desk before I even thought about it and gathered her into my arms.

"Baby girl, there's nothing to thank me for. But if it makes you feel better to thank me, then I accept. You're very welcome."

"Um, Em? You're kind of crushing me," She wheezed.

"Oh, right. Sorry about that!" I laughed and released her.

She sniffed and nodded her head.

"Aw, muffin. Don't cry! You know I can't handle it when women cry!"

"I'm sorry. This is a lot more emotional than I thought it would be," She replied after taking a deep breath and collected herself.

"What brought all this on?" I asked.

"Alice beat some sense into me – figuratively, of course. Though I wouldn't put it past her to use physical violence if she didn't make her point otherwise." She chuckled. "She actually just reinforced some of the things I was already feeling but her 'emotional intervention' as she put it made me realize how much you guys have done for me."

"I had noticed you have been acting more like your old self the past few days. I'm so glad you're coming back to us, Bells. So, you're over this whole James thing?" I asked.

"Oh, most definitely. If the asshat ever comes near me again, he's going to experience what I learned from the self-defense classes Charlie made me take a while back," She grinned and winked at me. And I believed her.

"That's fantastic," I said, taking her into another hug.

"Oh! I almost forgot. This is for you," She said, handing me the envelope she had been holding when she walked in.

"No fucking way! You're serious?" I asked when I opened the envelope and found two tickets to the Seahawks' first home game.

"I know it's a few months off, but I wanted to find a way to show you just how much I appreciate you."

I was feeling awfully appreciated recently with Rose's… enthusiasm for car repair and Bella's sudden epiphany.

"This is amazing, thank you Bells!" I gathered her up for yet another hug and laughed when she choked again.

"Ummm, Em? What's in your ear?"

"Huh?" I asked and reached up and ran my finger along the folds of my left ear. I blushed when I realized it was motor oil.

"Do I even want to know?" She asked.

"Probably not," I laughed.

"On that note, I have to get back to work. We're starting to get the proofs from the photo shoots we've had so far, and I have to go through them. And you have to finish revising your copy for your interview with the good Judge." She pointed at me.

"Aye aye, boss lady!" I snapped to salute and opened the door for her. She swatted at me playfully and made her way back down the hall to her office.

"Watch out for bumps in the carpet!" I yelled after her.

"I'm thinking of a finger, Em!" She replied without turning around.

Well, that was unexpected. At least now I had a few answers from my conversation with Edward yesterday. The relief I felt at realizing she was back to the way she was before douchbag was immense. I was so happy to have the old Bella back, and I got football tickets out of it!

I can't believe she thought that I wouldn't have stuck with her when she needed me. The great thing about Bella and all of my friends is that we never took each other for granted. We had a great rapport and even though we teased each other a lot, it was all done out of love and everybody knew it.

* * *

_  
_

_Again, I want to apologize for the length between posts. Sadly, real life came and bit me in the ass the past few weeks and it was hard to sit down and write this._

_Bella's journey is a very personal one for me, and a lot of my motivation for James is taken from my most recent ex-boyfriend, who has recently decided to crop back up and make life harder than it should be. It was hard to deal with my literary James and my real-life one as well._

_Plus, I wasn't really happy with the second half of the last chapter I wanted to make sure that this chapter was back up to the standard you lovely readers deserve. I feel this one, while short, does that._

_Thanks for hanging with me! I appreciate each and every one of my readers!_


	12. Chapter 12

**AN – The wait between chapters is inexcusable. I'm sorry.**

**Since it's been so long, I've lost track of my new readers, so I'm sorry that I can't welcome you personally, but know that I appreciate every one of you!**

**Nothing about Twilight is mine. **

**A little recap – Bella's coming around, finally getting over the damage James did during their relationship. Meanwhile, Edward's getting a little impatient to start wooing Bella. Bella's made the rounds thanking everybody for being patient with her. And we're getting closer to the reception for the Top Ten. I think that about sums it up. **

**By the way, I love this chapter.**

Chapter 12 -

Edward

I was sitting in a dark corner of Sal's – the bar where I perform during open mic nights – quietly sipping on my beer and waiting for my name to be announced when I heard Bella's name.

"Dude, did you see Bella's here?" Sleazeball 1 asked.

"Yeah," Sleazeball 2 answered.

"What are you going to do about it?" S1 asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I think I'm going to try to get her alone and talk to her again. You know she won't see reason when she's being blinded by those dickwads she calls her friends," S2 replied.

"You sure she's worth all this? I mean, I'm sure she was a great lay and all, but seriously. That one guy already broke your nose and it looks like she has two more protectors with the Blonde Twins sitting with her," S1 prodded.

"Oh, I'm sure she was worth it. She was so easy to fool, she never had any clue I was seeing Victoria on the side," S2, whom I assumed at this point was James, responded.

I was just getting up to "talk" to them when I heard my name being announced. I sighed deeply and made my way up to the little stage and grabbed my acoustic guitar.

"Umm, hi. I'm Edward. I'm going to play a couple songs tonight. The first one is called 'The Blower's Daughter' by Damien Rice." I introduced myself awkwardly, and then began to play.

I lost myself in the lyrics and everything else faded away. I chose this song because it reminds me of Bella. I had my eyes closed as I softly sang the closing lines, totally forgetting I had an audience - which if James and his sleazeball friend were to be believed, included not only Bella but also Jasper, Rose, Emmett and I assumed Alice.

Soon applause brought me back to earth. I dazedly looked out to the bar and saw my small group of friends looking stunned. Apparently Bella kept her word and didn't tell anybody about what she found out about me from the nomination letters she read, because they looked shocked that I was here.

She shot me an apologetic look and mouthed "I'm sorry", all the while glowing in my direction. I gave her a small smile and nodded my head.

"Thank you. Right, so my second song it 'Hurt', originally sung my Nine Inch Nails, but I'll be singing Johnny Cash's version," With that, I started strumming the chords to one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs I had ever heard.

When I was done, I thanked the audience again and made my way to the table where my friends sat.

"Oh my god, Edward! That was fantastic! I had no idea you sang here! We would have come watched you sooner if we had known!" Alice gushed.

"I was kind of keeping it on the DL, actually," I told her. "Not that I don't like that you're here, but at first I just wanted it to be a way of unwinding during the week. And then there was never really a good way to tell you."

"Good job, man." Jasper clapped me on the back. "Drink?"

"Sure, beer. Thanks," I responded and took a seat at the table.

We sat and listened to a few of the other performers and talked, just enjoying each other's company. I had almost forgotten that James and his douchbag friend were even here. I figured what they had said was right, there was no use trying to mess with her while she was with all of us. I mean, you'd have to be unbelievably stupid to do that, right?

Just as I relaxed a little with that realization, I felt Bella stiffen next to me.

"What's wrong?" I looked at her and saw a hard expression set in her eyes.

"Just a little pest problem, that's all." She looked at me and smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"Bella, baby," James sidled up to her oozing jackass out of every pore.

"James," she replied tersely.

By now everybody at our once relaxed and happy table was buzzing with tension and anger.

"Can I talk to you alone for a minute?" He leered what I'm sure he thought was a reassuring smile at her.

"No, I don't think you can," Bella smiled sweetly at him.

"Bella, honey. Please? I don't really want to discuss our personal business in front of these people. Now, can we please just go over there and talk?"

"James, first thing – I'm not your baby or your honey. You forfeited that right when you threw out of your car and broke my arm and then left me there. Secondly – We have no personal business for the same reasons I just said. Please leave me alone," Bella turned back to us, but James reached out and grabbed her arm.

Bella swung out of her chair to face him, with a glorious fury in her eyes.

"Do. Not. Touch. Me." She growled.

"Come on, baby. You know you want me back. It's just _them_ that have convinced you otherwise," James sneered, paying absolutely no attention to the fact that not only our table was on edge, but also half the bar was now watching their exchange.

"_They_ love me unconditionally. _They _have never judged me or made me feel like I'm less than I am. And _They_ were around to pick up the pieces of my shattered self-esteem after you got through with me. So, no. _They_ haven't convinced me of anything. You did a wonderful job of proving you assholery on your own. I'm going to ask you one more time. Leave. Me. Alone."

"But, Bella…" He trailed off, making to grab her arm again.

Emmett, Jasper and I were half out of our seats when Bella swung her arm back and connected a firm, hard punch right to James's nose. We stood stunned for a moment, just watching Bella and James.

When she punched him, James had doubled over. Bella stood back and started turning around to sit down and then seemed to change her mind and turned back to him.

"James, honey?" She bent down to him to look him in the eye. "The next time you talk to me, you won't be so lucky. I'll let _them_ have you, and I assure you, they won't be nearly as kind as I am. Got it?"

He grunted his response.

"Good. Oh, and one more thing," She sneered at him, and the kneed him in the balls.

"You bitch! Just wait until I talk to the police!" He managed to sob out.

"Oh, I can't wait. You see this beautiful woman over here?" She indicated Rose. "She's a defense lawyer, one of the best in Seattle. You also have a bar full of people watching you right now, who will vouch for me when I say that you approached me and persisted in talking to me when I asked you to leave me alone, twice. You're arrest record will also work against you. So, please call the police. File a report. We'll see how far that goes."

James snorted and was escorted out by the bouncer that had walked up during Bella's speech. The bar looked stunned for about 30 seconds after and then broke out into raucous applause. There were even a couple cat calls and whistles. Our table jumped up to embrace her. Alice was there first, then Emmett, Jasper, Rose and finally me.

I can't tell you what got into me, whether it was the emotion in the air or the raw power she exuded when she was attacking James, but I couldn't control what I did next.

I grabbed Bella by the sides of her face and pulled her to me, kissing her with all the passion that had built up since we met. She was shocked for a moment and then responded with just the same amount of passion. The bar faded away and for a few glorious seconds or minutes or hours – I couldn't tell – there was just Bella and me and our lips and tongues and hands.

A loud, piercing whistle brought us down to earth. Bella hid her head in my neck and I looked at our friends who had matching shit-eating grins on their faces.

"Who knew our little Bella had it in her?" Emmett mused.

"You never saw her in those self-defense classes we took. The instructor was scared of her. He cowered like a little girl when it was her turn for stuff. It was quite funny, actually," Alice piped up.

We took our seats, me with a goofy grin on my face, I'm sure.

"Ouch," Bella said, looking down at the hand she used to punch James.

I took it between mine and looked down at it. It was hard to tell anything because of the lighting, but it appeared slightly red and swollen. Not surprising, I'm betting James had a hard head.

"Alice, hon, can you go ask the bartender for some ice and a rag or something to put it in?" She nodded and got up. "Bella, sweetie, do you mind if I take a look at your hand? I want to make sure you're not seriously hurt," I asked looking into her eyes.

She nodded and bit her lip. I stood up and grabbed her good hand in mine and walked back towards the bathrooms. I took a minute to decide and ducked into the women's restroom.

Once the rush of what happened wore off, I started to feel like a shit for kissing her like that. I wanted to apologize and figured I could kill two birds with one stone while I looked at her hand.

We shut the door and locked it behind us and I gingerly grabbed Bella's right hand and brought it up to look at. It was swollen and slightly red, but I could tell that nothing was broken.

"Bella?" I asked. She peered at me with those big, deep eyes.

"Edward?" She replied.

I took a deep breath and jumped into my apology.

"I'm sorry I kissed you like that. I shouldn't have, I got caught up in the moment, and it's not that I haven't wanted to, but you just punched your ex for fuck's sake and I should have waited and…"

"Edward," She cut off my rant.

"Yes?" I looked up at her and noticed she looked amused.

"Stop trying to apologize. You're going to hurt yourself," She smirked at me.

"Yes ma'am," I looked at her a little sheepishly.

"I do have one question, though."

"What's that?"

"When are you going to do it again?"

"As soon as humanly possible," I breathed out not noticing that we had been inching closer to each other during our exchange.

I gently gripped the back of her head and lightly brought my lips to hers, just brushing them together at first and then came back with more pressure. My knees almost buckled when I felt her tongue sweep along my bottom lip, asking for entrance. I gladly opened my mouth to hers and welcomed her beautiful, warm, sweet, luscious tongue into mine.

She grabbed the front of my shirt to bring me closer and I heard her whimper. I jumped back, remembering why we were back here to begin with.

"Shit, Bella. Your hand! How much does it hurt?"

"It's not too bad, until I try to fist men's shirts into my hand," She smiled at me.

"It's not broken, which is lucky. It may bruise but if we get ice on it soon that may even be minimal. If it's too bad, come by my office tomorrow and I can wrap it for you,"

"Thank you, Doctor Cullen," she flirted at me, and I felt my pants grow tight…er.

"We should probably get back out there before Alice comes looking for us," I sighed.

I grabbed Bella's left hand and we walked back to the table where our friends were sitting. Alice shot me a smug look when I pulled out Bella's chair and skipped over to help apply the ice to Bella's hand.

"Where in God's name did you learn how to throw a punch like that, woman?" Rose asked once we were all settled and they confirmed Bella's hand was okay.

"Charlie wanted me to learn the basics of fighting when I was in high school in case I was ever by myself and had to protect myself. Then when we started college Alice and I took self-defense classes, but she mentioned that earlier," Bella shrugged.

"I'm so fucking proud of you, Bells. Seriously, that was awesome!" Emmett exclaimed.

Bella blushed and looked down at her hand, obviously uncomfortable with the attention. Meanwhile, I could barely keep my eyes off of her. She was incredible. And now that I had a chance to reflect on the kisses – kissES plural! – I couldn't keep the goofy grin off my face. I'm pretty sure I saw Em shoot me a wink at some point.

Everybody was so proud of Bella for finally standing up to James. I never knew him, so it was hard to tell, but if he always acted the way I heard him acting earlier tonight, he got off too easily with a broken nose and some severely bruised balls.

Eventually the conversation moved past Bella's show to other topics. I noticed she started yawning, so I leaned in to ask her if she was ready to go home.

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired. Confronting James took a lot out of me. But I came with Alice and she doesn't look like she's ready to go yet," Bella nodded her head to Alice who was currently gesturing excitedly and appeared to be in the middle of retelling a story.

"I can take you home. I had a long day at work today, so I'm getting pretty tired, too," I told her.

"That'd be great, thanks Edward." She grinned at me from under her eyelashes. The things she did to me with a simple look!

"Hey guys. I'm going to take Bella home. We've both had a long day, and we're ready to turn in."

Everybody hopped up to give us a goodbye hug.

"You remember what I told you," Emmett whispered in my ear when he guy-hugged me.

I simply nodded at him and put my hand on the small of Bella's back to guide her out of the bar. When we got to my car, I carefully handed her in and made sure she was situated before jogging to the driver's side and got in.

"Thanks for the ride, Edward," Bella sighed, relaxing into the seat.

"It's my pleasure. I really am tired, and I couldn't pass up having you to myself for a few more minutes," I winked at her.

"So, what exactly does that kiss mean for us?" Bella asked, her new, bold attitude showing up again.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair before replying, thinking of how to phrase my answer. How to do this without scaring her off?

"I hope you don't find this off-putting, but I've been taken with you since the day I met you. You're beautiful, and you don't even know it. You're so smart, and driven and have this light about you that I can't even describe. I'd like very much if you would let me take you out some time," I said glancing over at her when I pulled up to a stoplight.

She chewed on her lip for a moment, appearing deep in thought.

"Bella, please say something. I wish I could read your mind sometimes," I laughed nervously.

"I like you, too. I never would have dreamed that you would return those feelings, though," She finally confessed, her boldness of earlier gone.

"God, Bella, I do. I do so much, but I was worried about scaring you off by coming on too strongly, so I decided to become your friend before confessing my feelings."

"I'll admit, a month ago I probably would have questioned your motives, but now I'm going to go with it. You make me too happy to fight what I'm feeing any longer."

By this time we had pulled up to Bella's house. I smiled at her before getting out and opening her door to walk her to her door.

"You don't have to do this, you know?" She told me as we made our way up her walk.

"I know, but I want to. Just humor me, okay?" I unleashed my smile on her.

When we got to her door, she fished out her keys looking hesitant to go inside.

"Bella, can I kiss you goodnight?" I asked her.

She looked up at me and nodded her head.

I smiled before stepping closer to her and pulled her to me and placed a soft, sweet kiss on her lips. I pulled back and thanked her.

"For what?" She looked confused.

"For being you," I replied simply. "Goodnight, Bella."

"Goodnight, Edward. Will you text me when you get home?"

"Of course, love," I kissed her cheek one last time before making my way back to my car.

I made sure she got into her house safely and drove home. Though, to be honest, I didn't remember much of the drive. My mind was too full of excitement that Bella and I had taken our first steps as a couple.

I kept my word to Bella and texted her when I got back to my place. Knowing I'd be too wound up to go to bed right away, I sat at my piano and worked more on the song that I'd been thinking of since I met Bella.

When I went to bed that night, I could still feel her lips on mine. I slept better that night than I had in weeks.

**Like I said, I'm so so so so so so so sorry that this took so long. I mentioned in my last chapter that I was having problems with my own personal James. It was so cathartic to take out my frustrations on literary James.**

**I'm also having a little problem with motivation lately, so I'd really appreciate hearing from my readers, letting me know you're still on board with me. I feel silly for asking for reviews again, but if you could please humor me, it'll help me get back on track. **

**I want to thank each and every one of you for staying with me through my funk. **


End file.
